Inconsistencies of opinion, arising from changes of circumstances, are often justifiable.

Webster distinguishes between fickleness and rational revision. The line argues that what looks like inconsistency may be warranted when the underlying facts, incentives, or public needs have changed. In politics and public life—Webster’s own arena—stances are often judged as fixed “principles,” but he suggests that responsible judgment must respond to altered circumstances. The implication is pragmatic rather than cynical: integrity can include updating one’s conclusions when new conditions arise, so long as the change is grounded in reason and context rather than convenience. The quote thus defends adaptive statesmanship and cautions against treating every shift in position as hypocrisy.