Literary notes about inconsistent (AI summary)
The term “inconsistent” in literature is often employed to denote a deviation from internal coherence, whether within an argument, narrative, or character. It is used to critique reasoning or display conflicts between ideas—for instance, when an account’s contradictions force a reassessment of its validity [1] or when a philosophical passage, by nature unclear and self-contradictory, is described as necessarily so [2]. At times, the word highlights discrepancies in character behavior or historical accounts, where a person’s actions do not align with their established reputation [3, 4, 5]. It can also function as a commentary on legal and doctrinal texts, pointing out that certain statutes or practices are at odds with one another or with broader principles [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. In each use, “inconsistent” serves as a sharp tool for scrutinizing the harmony—or lack thereof—within ideas, actions, and textual representations.
- As soon as the account is inconsistent the assumption must be abandoned and a fresh one and yet again
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross - This is one of those passages in Plato which, partaking both of a philosophical and poetical character, is necessarily indistinct and inconsistent.
— from Meno by Plato - It gave me the most inconsistent opinions of her.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens - “It’s nothing, it’s nothing!” said the prince, and again he wore the smile which was so inconsistent with the circumstances.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - His various and inconsistent character seems to be impartially drawn.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - A man may use land in a certain way, with the intent to exclude all others from using it in any way inconsistent with his own use, but no further.
— from The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes - Now, once we have admitted the authority of this idea of duty, it is evidently inconsistent that we should think of saying that we cannot act thus.
— from Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Essay by Immanuel Kant - The new ministers attempted, with inconsistent avarice, to seize the spoils of their predecessor, and to provide for their own future security.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - On this principle all maxims are rejected which are inconsistent with the will being itself universal legislator.
— from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals by Immanuel Kant - But I cannot see what is left of a principle which avows itself inconsistent with convenience and the actual course of legislation.
— from The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes
