QuoteProject
Nothing that isn't a real crime makes a man appear so contemptible and little in the eyes of the world as inconsistency.
Joseph Addison
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Inconsistency can damage a person's reputation more than actual crimes.

This quote by Joseph Addison suggests that being inconsistent in one's beliefs or actions is viewed as a significant flaw by society. It emphasizes that even minor discrepancies in behavior or thought can lead to a loss of respect and credibility, more so than real immoral acts, highlighting the importance of integrity and coherence in one's character.

Themes

InconsistencyReputationIntegrityCharacterSociety

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be referenced in a debate about personal integrity.

More from Joseph Addison

Unbounded courage and compassion join'd, Tempering each other in the victor's mind, Alternately proclaim him good and great, And make the hero and the man complete.
Joseph AddisonRead
Good nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit and gives a certain air to the countenance which is more amiable than beauty.
Joseph AddisonRead
Ridicule is generally made use of to laugh men out of virtue and good sense, by attacking everything praiseworthy in human life.
Joseph AddisonRead
Admiration is a very short lived passion that immediately decays upon growing familiar with its object, unless it still be fed with fresh discoveries, and kept alive by a new perpetual succession of miracles rising up to its view.
Joseph AddisonRead
It is impossible for us, who live in the latter ages of the world, to make observations in criticism, morality, or in any art or science, which have not been touched upon by others. We have little else left us but to represent the common sense of mankind in more strong, more beautiful, or more uncommon lights.
Joseph AddisonRead
An ostentatious man will rather relate a blunder or an absurdity he has committed, than be debarred from talking of his own dear person.
Joseph AddisonRead

Similar quotes

There can be no question of holding forth on ethics. I have seen people behave badly with great morality and I note every day that integrity has no need of rules
Albert CamusRead
There does, in fact, appear to be a plan.
Albert EinsteinRead
Our disrespect for thinking: someone sitting in a chair, gazing out of a window blankly, always described as 'doing nothing'.
Alain De BottonRead
Now then, Pooh," said Christopher Robin, "where's your boat?" "I ought to say," explained Pooh as they walked down to the shore of the island, "that it isn't just an ordinary sort of boat. Sometimes it's a Boat, and sometimes it's more of an Accident. It all depends." "Depends on what?" "On whether I'm on the top of it or underneath it.
A. A. MilneRead
Necessity has the face of a dog.
Gabriel Garcia MarquezRead
A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.
Thomas JeffersonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Joseph Addison | QuoteProject