True consistency, that of the prudent and the wise, is to act in conformity with circumstances, and not to act always the same way under a change of circumstances.
—John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) American Head of State, Politician, Activist
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said today… Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Consistency, madam, is the first of Christian duties.
—Charlotte Bronte (1816–1855) English Novelist, Poet
Let your character be kept up the very end, just as it began, and so be consistent.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
The world is quite right. It does not have to be consistent.
—Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935) American Feminist, Writer
Who ever has no fixed opinions has no constant feelings.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
Consistency is a paste jewel that only cheap men cherish.
—William Allen White (1868–1944) American Editor, Politician, Author
There is nothing in this world constant but inconstancy.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
The spirit reveals itself to everyone with the same intensity and consistency, but only warriors are consistently attuned to such revelations.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
We cannot remain consistent with the world save by growing inconsistent with our past selves.
—Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) British Essayist, Physician
Too much consistency is as bad for the mind as for the body.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
The world’s a scene of changes, and to be Constant, in Nature were inconstancy.
—Abraham Cowley (1618–67) English Poet, Essayist
First correct thyself, then correct others.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Success is all about consistency around the fundamentals.
—Robin Sharma (b.1964) Canadian Writer, Motivational Speaker
Beautiful are the admonitions of those whose lives accord with their teachings.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Take out the beam from thine eye.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
There are those who would misteach us that to stick in a rut is consistency, and a virtue, and that to climb out of the rut is inconsistency, and a vice.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
You accuse a woman of wavering affections, but don’t blame her; she is just looking for a consistent man.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
To be honest, one must be inconsistent.
—H. G. Wells (1866–1946) English Novelist, Historian, Social Thinker
Look to make your course regular, that men may know beforehand what they may expect.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
What, then, is the true Gospel of consistency? Change. Who is the really consistent man? The man who changes. Since change is the law of his being, he cannot be consistent if he stick in a rut.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Consistency is only suitable for ridicule.
—Moliere (1622–73) French Playwright
The destroyer of weeds, thistles and thorns is a benefactor, whether he soweth grain or not.
—Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–99) American Lawyer, Orator, Agnostic
A consistent soul believes in destiny, a capricious one in chance.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Consistency is a virtue for trains: what we want from a philosopher is insights, whether he comes by them consistently or not.
—Stephen Vizinczey (1933–2021) Hungarian-Canadian Writer
I think you will find that people who honestly mean to be true really contradict themselves much more rarely than those who try to be “consistent.” But a great many things we say can be made to appear contradictory, simply because they are partial views of a truth, and may often look unlike at first, as a front view of a face and its profile often do.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
Consistency is the foundation of virtue.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
No well-informed person ever imputed inconsistency to another for changing his mind.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Success is more a function of consistent common sense than it is of genius.
—An Wang (1920–90) Chinese-born American Engineer, Inventor, Entrepreneur
Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago.
—Bernard Berenson (1865–1959) American Art Critic, Historian
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