(a foolish) consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds

proverb If one is rigid in their thoughts and decisions, they risk being narrow-minded. The phrase comes from Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1841 essay "Self-Reliance": "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. If a patient's medical condition changes, then you can't simply continue with the same course of treatment and expect their condition to improve. You need to adapt the treatment plan to fit the new symptoms. The government seems determined to stick with this initiative, despite the overwhelming amount of data showing that it simply isn't working. I'd say I'm surprised, but consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, after all. When I heard that management is continuing with mandatory overtime, despite the fact that it's crushing employee morale, my mind went to the immortal words of Emerson: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."