In Praise of Inconsistency

I am dealing here with consistency in only one sense of the word: agreement, within thought, between general principles and their application. To me, a man is consistent with himself if, having at his disposal a certain number of general principles, he carefully sees to it that all he does and all he thinks should be done remain in absolute agreement with these general principles. Therefore, anyone who believes that killing is evil and refuses to do military service is consistent with himself; so is anyone who is convinced that monogamy is superior to other forms of family life and does not deceive his wife; so is the policeman who believes that traffic regulations must be obeyed and officially reprimands a pedestrian who jaywalks.

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