When you are younger you get blamed for crimes you never committed and when you're older you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed.

Santayana’s aphorism points to the shifting social optics of age. In youth, others readily suspect irresponsibility or moral failure, so a young person can be blamed for misdeeds simply because they fit a stereotype of inexperience or impulsiveness. With age, the stereotype flips: longevity, status, and accumulated reputation can cause others to attribute wisdom, restraint, or integrity that may not actually be present. The line critiques how praise and blame often track expectations rather than evidence, and it suggests a quiet irony about “character” as something socially assigned. It also implies that both condemnation and admiration can be forms of misunderstanding.