The idea that “consistency is important” is a fallacy that dumb people fall into.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds --- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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 to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — ‘Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.’ — 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, Self Reliance (1841)
-
Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen, philosophers, and theologians. Great souls have nothing to do with consistency. It may as well be worrying about your shadow on the wall. Speak harshly what you think now, and tomorrow, speak harshly what you think tomorrow, even if it contradicts everything you said today. - Ah, so you will always be misunderstood.” “Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? So is it so bad to be misunderstood?” Pythagoras, Socrates, Jesus, Luther, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and every pure and wise mind that ever took physical form were misunderstood. To be great is to be misunderstood.
-
To be great is to be misunderstood. >To be great is to be misunderstood.
Related: Sklavenmoral (slave morality, as a philosophical concept of Nietzsche)
- Blind faith in the thought that “consistency is good” is slave morality.
- Is consistency useful?
This page is auto-translated from /nishio/愚かな一貫性は狭い心が生み出すお化け using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I’m very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.