Quotes about consistency
page 18

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti photo

“All this will have left you disposed to understand one of our principal Futurist efforts, which consists of abolishing in literature the apparently indissoluble fusion of the two concepts of Woman and Beauty.”

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876–1944) Italian poet and editor, founder of the Futurist movement

This ideological a fusion has reduced all romance to a sort of heroic assault that a bellicose and lyrical male launches against a tower that bristles with enemies, a story which ends when the hero, now beneath starlight, carries the divine Beauty-Woman away to new heights. Novels such as Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo or Salammbô by Flaubert can clarify my point. It is a matter of a dominant leitmotif, already worn out,c of which we would like to disencumber literature and art in general.
1910's, Multiplied Man and the Reign of the Machine' 1911
Source: Poggi, Christine, and Laura Wittman, eds. Futurism: An Anthology. Yale University Press, 2009. p. 89

Anne Conway photo

“I say, life and figure are distinct attributes of one substance, and as one and the same body may be transmuted into all kinds of figures; and as the perfecter figure comprehends that which is more imperfect; so one and the same body may be transmuted from one degree of life to another more perfect, which always comprehends in it the inferior. We have an example of figure in a triangular prism, which is the first figure of all right lined solid triangular prism, which is the first figure of all right lined solid bodies, where into a body is convertible; and from this into a cube, which is a perfecter figure, and comprehends in it a prism; from a cube it may be turned into a more perfect figure, which comes nearer to a globe, and from this into another, which is yet nearer; and so it ascends from one figure, more imperfect to another more perfect, ad infinitum; for here are no bounds; nor can it be said, this body cannot be changed into a perfecter figure: But the meaning is that that body consists of plane right lines; and this is always chageablee into a perfecter figure, and yet can never reach to the perfection of a globe, although it always approaches nearer unto it; the case is the same in diverse degrees of life, which have indeed a beginning, but no end; so that the creature is always capable of a farther and perfecter degree of life, ad infinitum, and yet can never attain to be equal with God; for he is still infinitely more perfect than a creature, in its highest elevation or perfection, even as a globe is the most perfect of all other figures, unto which none can approach.”

Anne Conway (1631–1679) British philosopher

The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy (1690)

Bill Bryson photo

“Making models was reputed to be hugely enjoyable… But when you got the kit home and opened the box the contents turned out to be of a uniform leaden gray or olive green, consisting of perhaps sixty thousand tiny parts, some no larger than a proton, all attached in some organic, inseparable way to plastic stalks like swizzle sticks. The tubes of glue by contrast were the size of large pastry tubes. No matter how gently you depressed them they would blurp out a pint or so of a clear viscous goo whose one instinct was to attach itself to some foreign object—a human finger, the living-room drapes, the fur of a passing animal—and become an infinitely long string. Any attempt to break the string resulted in the creation of more strings. Within moments you would be attached to hundreds of sagging strands, all connected to something that had nothing to do with model airplanes or World War II. The only thing the glue wouldn’t stick to, interestingly, was a piece of plastic model; then it just became a slippery lubricant that allowed any two pieces of model to glide endlessly over each other, never drying. The upshot was that after about forty minutes of intensive but troubled endeavor you and your immediate surroundings were covered in a glistening spiderweb of glue at the heart of which was a gray fuselage with one wing on upside down and a pilot accidentally but irremediably attached by his flying cap to the cockpit ceiling. Happily by this point you were so high on the glue that you didn’t give a shit about the pilot, the model, or anything else.”

Source: The Life And Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (2006), p. 81

“The essence of happiness consists in an act of the intellect.”

Josef Pieper (1904–1997) German philosopher

(Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica) … What is implicit in this sentence? This is implicit: the fulfillment of existence takes place in the manner in which we become aware of reality; the whole energy of our being is ultimately directed toward attainment of insight. The perfectly happy person, the one whose thirst has been finally quenched, who has attained beatitude—this person is the one who sees. The happiness, the quenching, the perfection, consists in this seeing.
Source: Happiness and Contemplation (1958), p. 58

Lin Yutang photo
Martin Luther King, Jr. photo
Ethan Allen photo
Robert Greene photo
Robert Greene photo
John Stuart Mill photo
Johannes Kepler photo
Tzvetan Todorov photo
Joseph Goebbels photo

“Consistent with his spiritual attitude, the National Socialist makes uncompromising demands in politics.”

Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) Nazi politician and Propaganda Minister

1930s, Die verfluchten Hakenkreuzler. Etwas zum Nachdenken (1932)

Michel Henry photo

“So my flesh is not only the principle of the constitution of my objective body, it hides in it its invisible substance. Such is the strange condition of this object that we call a body : it doesn’t consist at all in the visible appearance to which we have always reduced it ; precisely in its reality it is invisible. Nobody has ever seen a man, but nobody has ever seen his body either, if by "body" we understand his real body.”

Michel Henry (1922–2002) French writer

Michel Henry, Incarnation. Une philosophie de la chair, éd. du Seuil, 2000, p. 221
Books on Religion and Christianity, Incarnation: A philosophy of Flesh (2000)
Original: (fr) Ma chair n’est donc pas seulement le principe de la constitution de mon corps objectif, elle cache en elle sa substance invisible. Telle est l’étrange condition de cet objet que nous appelons un corps : il ne consiste nullement en ces espèces visibles auxquelles on le réduit depuis toujours ; en sa réalité précisément il est invisible. Personne n’a jamais vu un homme, mais personne n’a jamais vu non plus son corps, si du moins par « corps » on entend son corps réel.

Thomas Hylland Eriksen photo
Pope Pius VI photo

“It is nature herself, therefore, which (decrees) that the usage which each must make of his reason should consist essentially in recognizing his sovereign author. ... In order to make this phantom of unlimited freedom vanish from the eyes of healthy reason, is it not enough to say that this system was that of the Vaudois and the Beguars?”

Pope Pius VI (1717–1799) pope and sovereign of the Papal States

Quod aliquantum (10 March 1791), quoted in André Latreille and Joseph E. Cunneen, 'The Catholic Church and the Secular State: The Church and the Secularization of Modern Societies', CrossCurrents Vol. 13, No. 2 (Spring 1963), p. 221

Jacinda Ardern photo
John Allen Paulos photo

“The universe acts on us, we adapt to it, and the notions that we develop as a result, including the mathematical ones, are in a sense taught us by the universe. Evolution has selected those of our ancestors (both human and not) whose behavior and thought were consistent with the workings of the universe.”

John Allen Paulos (1945) American mathematician

Part 3 “Four Psycho-Mathematical Arguments”, Chapter 4 “The Universality Argument (and the Relevance of Morality and Mathematics)” (p. 131)
Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don’t Add Up (2008)

Thomas Hylland Eriksen photo
Immanuel Kant photo
Pope John Paul II photo

“Surely it is important for America that the moral truths which make freedom possible should be passed on to each new generation. Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”

Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) 264th Pope of the Catholic Church, saint

Source http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1995/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19951008_baltimore.html Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Sunday, 8 October 1995
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20220416100400/https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1995/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19951008_baltimore.html Archived] from [https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1995/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19951008_baltimore.html the original

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky photo

“Perhaps the Church of Rome was but consistent in choosing as her titular founder the apostle who thrice denied his master at the moment of danger; and the only one, moreover, except Judas, who provoked Christ in such a way as to be addressed as the "Enemy." "Get thee behind me, Satan!"”

exclaims Jesus, rebuking the taunting apostle.(Gospel according to Mark, viii. 33.) There is a tradition in the Greek Church which has never found favor at the Vatican. The former traces its origin to one of the Gnostic leaders — Basilides, perhaps, who lived under Trajan and Adrian, at the end of the first and the beginning of the second century. With regard to this particular tradition, if the Gnostic is Basilides, then he must be accepted as a sufficient authority, having claimed to have been a disciple of the Apostle Matthew, and to have had for master Glaucias, a disciple of St. Peter himself...

Chapter III
Isis Unveiled (1877), Volume II

Alan Turing photo
Léon Bloy photo

“The exercise of freedom consists in stripping oneself of one's own will.”

Léon Bloy (1846–1917) French writer, poet and essayist

Source: Pilgrim of the Absolute (1947), p. 292

H.L. Mencken photo

“I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind — that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.
I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.
I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty; and the democratic form is as bad as any of the other forms.
I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.
I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech — alike for the humblest man and the mightiest, and in the utmost freedom of conduct that is consistent with living in organized society.
I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.
I believe in the reality of progress.
I —But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.”

H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) American journalist and writer

"What I Believe" in The Forum 84 (September 1930), p. 139; some of these expressions were also used separately in other Mencken essays.
1930s

Koenraad Elst photo

“The behaviour and character of academic mullahs is once again consistent with their sorry record of misdeeds.”

Koenraad Elst (1959) orientalist, writer

363
2010s, The argumentative Hindu (2012)

David Pearce (philosopher) photo

“Today, empathetic intelligence entails sharing the sorrows of other sentient beings. In our posthuman future, will empathy consist entirely in sharing each other’s joys?”

David Pearce (philosopher) (1959) British transhumanist

"What Is Empathetic Superintelligence?" https://www.abolitionist.com/transhumanism/index.htm presentation, 29 Jan. 2011

David Pearce (philosopher) photo

“[N]othing is too terrible to be true if it is consistent with the laws of nature [...].”

David Pearce (philosopher) (1959) British transhumanist

" The Pinprick Argument https://www.utilitarianism.com/pinprick-argument.html", BLTC Research, 2005

Ho Chi Minh photo
Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak photo

“The religion of thousands consists in clinging to an idea; they are happy in their sloth.... many would observe silence from fear of fanatics.”

Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak (1551–1602) vizier

Ain-i-Akbari. Quoted in Lal, K. S. (2001). Historical essays. New Delhi: Radha.(II.203)

Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet photo

“But for a long time to come the prime movers in these operations must continue to be European. And we hope that a great Christian, and if we may use the term, ecclesiastical army will be raised, the rank and file consisting of natives, while the captains and generals are highly qualified Europeans.”

Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet (1826–1902) British politician

"Oriental experience; a selection of essays and addresses delivered in various occasions" in Shourie, Arun (1994). Missionaries in India: Continuities, changes, dilemmas. New Delhi : Rupa & Co, 1994 https://archive.org/stream/orientalexperien00tempuoft/orientalexperien00tempuoft_djvu.txt

“Poverty can be defined objectively and applied consistently only in terms of the concept of relative deprivation.”

Peter Townsend (sociologist) (1928–2009) British sociologist

[Poverty in the United Kingdom: A Survey of Household Resources and Standards of Living, 1979, University of California Press, 978-0-520-03976-6, 31, https://books.google.com/books?id=weGYy_-czvsC&pg=PA31]

Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay photo

“Turn where we may,—within,—around,—the voice of great events is proclaiming to us, Reform, that you may preserve. Now, therefore, while every thing at home and abroad forebodes ruin to those who persist in a hopeless struggle against the spirit of the age,—now, while the crash of the proudest throne of the continent is still resounding in our ears,—now, while the roof of a British palace affords an ignominious shelter to the exiled heir of forty kings,—now, while we see on every side ancient institutions subverted, and great societies dissolved,—now, while the heart of England is still sound,—now, while the old feelings and the old associations retain a power and a charm which may too soon pass away,—now, in this your accepted time,—now in this your day of salvation,—take counsel, not of prejudice,—not of party spirit,—not of the ignominious pride of a fatal consistency,—but of history,—of reason,—of the ages which are past,—of the signs of this most portentous time. Pronounce in a manner worthy of the expectation with which this great Debate has been anticipated, and of the long remembrance which it will leave behind. Renew the youth of the State. Save property divided against itself. Save the multitude, endangered by their own ungovernable passions. Save the aristocracy, endangered by its own unpopular power. Save the greatest, and fairest, and most highly civilized community that ever existed, from calamities which may in a few days sweep away all the rich heritage of many ages of wisdom and glory. The danger is terrible. The time is short. If this Bill should be rejected, I pray to God that none of those who concur in rejecting it may ever remember their votes with unavailing regret, amidst the wreck of laws, the confusion of ranks, the spoliation of property, and the dissolution of social order.”

Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay (1800–1859) British historian and Whig politician

Speech in the House of Commons (2 March 1831) https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1831/mar/02/ministerial-plan-of-parliamentary-reform#column_1204 in favour of the Reform Bill
1830s

Ivanka Trump photo

“During my punk phase in the nineties, I was really into Nirvana. My wardrobe consisted of ripped corduroy jeans and flannel shirts. One day after school, I dyed my hair blue. Mom wasn't a fan of this decision.”

Ivanka Trump (1981) American businesswoman, socialite, fashion model and daughter of Donald Trump

10 October 2017, Raising Trump page 74 https://books.google.ca/books?id=gQ5aDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT74
2017

Thomas Aquinas photo

“The highest manifestation of life consists in this: that a being governs its own actions. A being that is always subject to the direction of another is somewhat of a dead thing.”

Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican scholastic philosopher of the Roman Catholic Church

Variant translation: Now slavery has a certain likeness to death, hence it is also called civil death. For life is most evident in a thing's moving itself, while what can only be moved by another, seems to be as if dead. But it is manifest that a slave is not moved by himself, but only at his master's command.
Chapter 14 https://www.pathsoflove.com/aquinas/perfection-of-the-spiritual-life.html#chapter14
On The Perfection of the Spiritual Life https://www.pathsoflove.com/aquinas/perfection-of-the-spiritual-life.html (1269-1270)
Original: (la) Vita enim in hoc maxime manifestatur quod aliquid movet se ipsum; quod autem non potest moveri nisi ab alio, quasi mortuum esse videtur.

Coventry Patmore photo

“The difference between a commonly well-behaved woman and a high-bred lady consists in very small things—but what a difference it is!”

Coventry Patmore (1823–1896) English poet

Magna Moralia XI, p. 156.
The Rod, the Root, and the Flower (1895)

Warren Farrell photo

“Parenting plans should be consistent.”

Warren Farrell (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate

Source: The Boy Crisis (2018), pp. 165

Barbara W. Tuchman photo
Robert Boyle photo
Robert Boyle photo
Henry Cavendish photo
Richard Feynman photo

“Western civilization, it seems to me, stands by two great heritages. One is the scientific spirit of adventure — the adventure into the unknown, an unknown which must be recognized as being unknown in order to be explored; the demand that the unanswerable mysteries of the universe remain unanswered; the attitude that all is uncertain; to summarize it — the humility of the intellect. The other great heritage is Christian ethics — the basis of action on love, the brotherhood of all men, the value of the individual — the humility of the spirit.
These two heritages are logically, thoroughly consistent. But logic is not all; one needs one's heart to follow an idea. If people are going back to religion, what are they going back to? Is the modern church a place to give comfort to a man who doubts God — more, one who disbelieves in God? Is the modern church a place to give comfort and encouragement to the value of such doubts? So far, have we not drawn strength and comfort to maintain the one or the other of these consistent heritages in a way which attacks the values of the other? Is this unavoidable? How can we draw inspiration to support these two pillars of western civilization so that they may stand together in full vigor, mutually unafraid? Is this not the central problem of our time?”

Richard Feynman (1918–1988) American theoretical physicist

remarks (2 May 1956) at a Caltech YMCA lunch forum http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/49/2/Religion.htm

Larry Wall photo

“Be consistent.”

Larry Wall (1954) American computer programmer and author, creator of Perl

In the perl man page.
Documentation

Douglas Murray photo
Aristotle photo

“The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.”

Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy
Jonathan Swift photo
Herbert Hoover photo

“Wisdom oft times consists of knowing what to do next.”

Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) 31st President of the United States of America
Michael J. Sandel photo
Frithjof Schuon photo

“Virtue consists in allowing free passage, in the soul, to the Beauty of God.”

Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998) Swiss philosopher

[2019, Esoterism as Principle and as Way, World Wisdom, 87, 978-1-93659765-9]
Spiritual path, Virtue

Matt Ridley photo
Isaac Asimov photo

“An observer studying the Solar system dispassionately, and finding himself capable of bringing the four giant planets to his notice, could reasonably say that the Solar system consisted of one star, four planets, and some traces of debris.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …

"Worlds In Order" in The Secret of the Universe (1992), p. 63
General sources

Theresa May photo

“I have consistently said that immigration has been good for this country,”

Theresa May (1956) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Brexit: MPs to have vote by 12 March, says May https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47348610 BBC News (24 February 2019)
2010s, 2019

Prevale photo

“True love consists in sharing responsibilities, listening, sincerity, respect, sex, care, empathy, patience, planning and uniqueness.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: ​Il vero amore consiste nella condivisione delle responsabilità, dell'ascolto, della sincerità, del rispetto, del sesso, della cura, dell'empatia, della pazienza, della progettualità e dell'unicità.
Source: prevale.net

Mary L. Trump photo

“Nobody has failed upward as consistently and spectacularly as the ostensible leader of the free world.”

Source: Too Much and Never Enough (2020), Ch. 14 A Civil Servant in Public Housing, p. 197.

Yuval Noah Harari photo

“Consistency is the playground of dull minds.”

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

“When a person was so consistently wrong, it was time to give up having opinions.”

Source: The Heritage Universe, Convergence (1997), Chapter 23 (p. 488)

“The consistency of my body has changed and I quite like that. Everything has gone softer and gentler, and my ease with how I look is powerful—what I consider beautiful really helps me to grow old.”

Tan Kheng Hua (1963) Singaporean actress

"Tan Kheng Hua opens up about romance, sexuality and Asian representation in Hollywood" in Vogue (27 September 2020) https://vogue.sg/tan-kheng-hua-opens-up-about-romance-sexuality-and-asian-representation-in-hollywood/

Michael J. Sandel photo
Frithjof Schuon photo
Frithjof Schuon photo
Matt Ridley photo

“Life consists of the interplay of two kinds of chemicals: proteins and DNA.”

Source: Genome (1999), Chapter 1 “Life” (p. 17)

“The spirit manifests itself to a warrior at every turn. However, this is not the entire truth. The entire truth is that the spirit reveals itself to everyone with the same intensity and consistency, but only warriors are consistently attuned to such revelations.”

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from "The Power of Silence" (Chapter 18)

“The only possible course that a warrior has is to act consistently and without reservations. At a certain moment, he knows enough of the warriors' way to act accordingly, but his old habits and routines may stand in his way.”

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from "Tales of Power" (Chapter 10)

Prevale photo

“Always be consistent by keeping within you that spark of healthy madness, which makes your soul vital.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Siate sempre coerenti conservando in voi quella scintilla di sana follia, che rende vitale la vostra anima.
Source: prevale.net

Sanju Samson photo

“Consistency in My Innings Won’t Win Matches.”

Sanju Samson (1994) Indian cricketer

Consistency in My Innings Won’t Win Matches - Sanju Samson, India.com https://www.india.com/sports/consistency-in-my-innings-wont-win-matches-sanju-samson-3859157/, - Samson on an interview with IANS.

Thomas Aquinas photo

“Perfect happiness can consist in nothing else than the vision of the Divine Essence.”

Source: Summa Theologica (1265–1274), I–II, q. 3, art. 8 co

Charles Fillmore photo
Rajiv Malhotra photo

“The point being that the influence of dharmic philosophy on Western culture runs deep and yet consistently goes unacknowledged.”

Source: Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism (2011)

Matt Taibbi photo

“I've been very consistent over the years in saying the same things. I feel pretty strongly that the only thing that's changed is that the New York media world once agreed with the things I was saying, and now they don't.”

Matt Taibbi (1970) author and journalist

Source: Ross Barkan. " What Happened to Matt Taibbi? https://web.archive.org/web/20211126230239/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/10/what-happened-to-matt-taibbi.html", New York, 29 October 2021.

Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki photo
Rachit Yadav photo
Michel Henry photo
Vera Stanley Alder photo
Albert Einstein photo
Swami Sivananda photo
Leo Boccardi photo

“Dialogue enables us to appreciate the qualities of the other person and it's also a stimulus for us, for in dialogue we need to be consistent witnesses. Interreligious dialogue always begins with the profession of one's faith. This avoids relativism.”

Leo Boccardi (1953) Italian nuncio

Interview With Archbishop Leo Boccardi Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See (Vatican Ambassador) to the Islamic Republic of Iran https://en.shafaqna.com/63185/interview-with-archbishop-leo-boccardi-apostolic-nuncio-of-the-holy-see-vatican-ambassador-to-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-2/ (28 May 2018)

J.C. Ryle photo

“The world's idea of greatness is to rule, but Christian greatness consists in serving.”

J.C. Ryle (1816–1900) Anglican bishop

Mark IX: 30–37, p. 187
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: St. Mark (1857)

Prevale photo

“A wonderful relationship consists of two people who manage to become children again. Living and loving each other as teenagers in one way: purely.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Una meravigliosa relazione è composta da due persone che riescono a tornare bambini. Vivere ed amarsi da adolescenti, in un unico modo: puramente.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“The link between us and music consists in choosing what we like and makes us feel good, not what is imposed on us.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Il legame tra noi e la musica consiste nello scegliere ciò che ci piace e ci fa star bene, non ciò che ci viene imposto.
Source: prevale.net