We spend a lot of mental energy defending our old opinions as if they're part of our identity. Someone mentions climate policy, or the best way to raise kids, and we find ourselves locked into a position we adopted years ago—partly because we've already said it out loud so many times. Hugo's distinction cuts through this completely. He's saying the opinions themselves are like seasonal leaves: they should fall away and be replaced as we learn and experience more. That's not weakness. That's how a thinking person actually grows.
But underneath those changing views, there's something that shouldn't shift—your actual values. Your commitment to kindness, fairness, curiosity, or honesty. The specific political candidate you supported in 2012 might look foolish now, and that's fine. But if that vote came from a genuine belief in fairness, that belief can stay. You can become someone who changes their mind constantly about details while remaining reliably yourself in the ways that matter.
The tricky part is knowing the difference. We often mistake our opinions for our principles because we've held them for so long. But opinions are supposed to be temporary, tested things. Principles are the architecture underneath. Learning to swap one without abandoning the other might be the realest kind of maturity.