Who Said, "Foolish Consistency is the Hobgoblin of Narrow Minds"?

[ase]

Other than my mother, that is. In two days, I've gone from being extremely exasperated by how little I like Mélusine to being extremely exasperated that the sequel/second half, The Virtu, won't be out until June. For some reason I'd thought it would be published in February. I still think the beginning of Mélusine is hideously florid, and a number of secondary characters act fantastically thick, but I want to know what happens to Mildmay the Fox.

Aha. Emerson. Of course. Though I like the slightly less complete version for its anonymous annotation: "Emerson does not explain the difference between foolish and wise consistency."

Comments

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

I got the impression that "foolish consistency" was maintaining the same opinion despite new information.

Personally, I am very fond of non-foolish consistency :<) .

[ase.livejournal.com]

I suffer from an abiding dislike of the transcendentalists. Blame my Unitarian roots. There's a difference between clinging to an idea when its usefulness has worn out, and holding on to an idea because it's still a good idea, certainly. When dealing with mom, consistency is to be highly valued. But when it comes to books, opinions really should be periodically reconsidered. I'd hate to be stuck with my mid-teens opinions of a "good" story, for example.