But the newspaper which felt itself obliged to offer France a respectful admonition on one occasion and even to oppose French policy with firmness and to express sympathy with the Germans might afterwards acclaim the great virtues of France and oppose itself to the German nation without any loss of our respect.

In the one case the inconsistency arises from hysterical and immoral passion, in the other from a moral principle.
There is only one region in which consistency has the great sanction of an indubitable virtue: it is the region of moral character.

A good man, a man who makes us feel that righteousness is the breath of his nostrils, may change his intellectual opinions many times without losing our confidence, deeply as we may deplore his change.

Goodness has an effect on men's minds which can hardly be exaggerated.

Conduct is the one sphere in which consistency has an absolute merit.