Your Quote of the Day
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. ---Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
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Dean's World Defending the liberal tradition in history, science, and philosophy. |
Question: What is the difference between "foolish consistency" and "wise consistency?"
Discuss.
One still has some lumps in it...
"Discursive reason makes a good servant, but a poor master." —George Santayana (1863-1952).
I suppose a wise consistency would be one which is based on firmly understood and defined principles and ethics.
Ah, but are there not exceptions to rule? Would "wise consistency" include flexibility? And when do we wander into the land of relativism? Not that is necessarily a bad thing.
I love that quote. For a long time, I thought that it was written by Roald Dahl - because Willy Wonka (in the film), rattles the sentence off to the group of parents and kids who are babbling about how something in the Chocolate Factory doesn't make sense. I didn't know that Willy Wonka was actually quoting Emerson. What can I say - I was 8 years old. But I always remember that quote as a mixture of Emerson and Willy Wonka.
I love Emerson. What a great mind!
Re: 'foolish consistency' and 'wise consistency':
Simply, I think, one makes one inherently foolish and the other makes one inherently wise. Could also imply usually foolish or wise. Foolish Consistency almost seems like an oxymoron to me because when I think of people as wise, I associate them as consistent.
Yet, there are a few (politicians especially) who are particularly consistent in their foolishness, and comedians make a living at it.
In Buddhism, wise consistentcy might be water where foolish consistency might be the sticky mess left from red taffy on a hot sidewalk in 90 degree weather that your shoe steps in and tracks across white carpet.
Seeing this line quoted alone has always given me a feeling of misdirection. It's pretty clear from the context (in Self Reliance) that he was talking about the dangers of being misunderstood (by the ubiquitous 'little minds') through self reliant thinking. What we are, today, pleased to call thinking outside the box. I have (ahem) 4 lines of my own on this, under "Terser Verse" at DP. [/plug]
Later in the essay, though, is this gem--true as ever...
"An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man...and all history resolves itself very easily into the biography of a few stout and earnest persons."
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