Word.ws English Dictionary

a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds

a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds proverb: consistency may not be the key to success; changes, even minor ones, must be introduced.

Proverb

a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds

  1. Consistency may not be the key to success; changes, even minor ones, must be introduced.

Origin of a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds

A quotation from Self-Reliance, an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson, published in 1841.

Questions about a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds

What does a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds mean?
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds means consistency may not be the key to success; changes, even minor ones, must be introduced.
What part of speech is a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds?
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds is a proverb.

Words near a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds in the dictionary

  1. a flats
  2. A Fonsagrada
  3. a fool and his money
  4. a fool and his money are easily parted
  5. a fool and his money are soon parted
  6. a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds
  7. A for effort
  8. A formation
  9. a forteriori
  10. a fortiori
  11. a friend in need is a friend indeed

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/a_foolish_consistency_is_the_hobgoblin_of_little_minds. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.