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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds

Cultural  

  1. A great person does not have to think consistently from one day to the next. This remark comes from the essay “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson does not explain the difference between foolish and wise consistency.

Example Sentences

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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson.

From Washington Post • Jul. 21, 2017

Diane Wilson: A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds: Emerson.

From Slate • Feb. 23, 2012

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.