Keep Going! 55+ Consistency Quotes To Read If Your Habits Could Use Some Help

Believe it or not, not everyone finds consistency to be a good thing. As a matter of fact, as we were researching quotes on consistency, we found numerous quotes that suggest the opposite. For instance, while The Rock believes that consistency breeds success, Oscar Wilde disagrees. Wilde is quoted as saying that consistency means you’re “unimaginative.” It turns out that the idea of consistency is pretty controversial, which makes consistency quotes all the more fun to stew on — whether your goal is to become more consistent in your good habits or to validate that your lack of consistency is, well, OK.

The idea of consistency is simple enough. To be consistent means you keep a routine or that you’re reliable. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of the word is “the quality or fact of staying the same at different times,” or “the quality or fact of being good each time.” You can see how those things might be considered positives, right? We all want to be deemed reliable. We all think we want our friends to know that they can count on us to be there or give advice in a reliable, true-to-self manner. And, more to the point, we all really want to be able to rely on ourselves to accomplish the things we set out to accomplish. But could consistency also be a “bad thing”? By the nature of the word, routine means certain things stay the same. If things remain the same, how can we grow?

Listen, we don’t have all the answers. What we do know is that some of the world’s most successful people swear by consistency as a crucial habit. As leadership expert John Maxwell said, “Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.” So, perhaps the big takeaway here is consistency doesn’t mean keeping everything the same. It means choosing, with intention, things to repeat to help you grow toward your goal (whatever that goal might be).

No matter which side of consistency you fall on, there are quotes here that do a lovely job of illustrating your beliefs.

Consistency Quotes to Keep You Going

1. “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” — Dwayne Johnson
2. “The swallows flew there each spring and made little mud nests to raise their babies in after they hatched. People say there used to be so many birds in the sky, it became dark while they flew over the streets to their destination. If you didn’t look up, you might think it was an eclipse… ‘Frankie why do you love those birds so much?’ Luis would ask him each year when they returned. And Frankie would always say the same thing: ‘Because I can count on them.'” — Kathryn Fitzmaurice
3. “Do it again and again. Consistency makes the raindrops to create holes in the rock. Whatever is difficult can be done easily with regular attendance, attention, and action.” — Israelmore Ayivor
4. “Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago.” — Bernard Berenson
5. “If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.” — Samuel Johnson
6. “Things get clear when you do it every day. It’s all right if you can’t do it today. Do it tomorrow, and then the next day and then the day after.” — Sarvesh Jain
7. “Do not do what you cannot continue to deliver. For, remember, the world wants to see a continuity of delivery of set standards!” — Sujit Lalwani
8. “A skeptic, I would ask for consistency first of all.” — Sylvia Plath
9. “Consistency is everything. Nothing happens overnight. Nurturing any relationship, parenting, understanding people, understanding ourselves, building a business, weight loss, personal transformation, and education. All takes time. Be consistent and experience the magic of life.” — Purvi Raniga
10. “Consistency is the true foundation of trust. Either keep your promises or do not make them.” — Roy T. Bennett
11. “If you try to be consistent, you tie yourself to a rock, and you restrict your own movements. Free yourself from the consistency!” — Mehmet Murat Ildan
12. “Your consistency must outlast the world’s ignorance of who you truly are.” — Dr. Billy Alsbrooks
13. “One bulb at a time. There was no other way to do it. No shortcuts —simply loving the slow process of planting. Loving the work as it unfolded. Loving an achievement that grew slowly and bloomed for only three weeks each year.” — Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards
14. “Consistency is the hallmark of the unimaginative.” — Oscar Wilde
15. “It’s not the length of my stride. It’s the fact that I’m walking.” — Craig D. Lounsbrough
16. “Successful innovation requires commitment, consistency, and collaboration.” — Monique Beedles
17. “It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.” — Tony Robbins
18. “Tough is temporary. Your muscles will adapt to anything you challenge them to do consistently.” — Wallace Miles
19. “Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead.” — Aldous Huxley
20. “It is not perfection we seek, for perfection is impossible. It is instead consistency.” — Brandon Sanderson
21. “Living an authentic life can keep you ready for whatever comes down life’s road. Your thoughts and actions will be consistent, no matter what happens, because they agree with who you are.” — Vincent H. O’Neil
22. “The seeds of accomplishment sprouts in the soil of consistency.” — Maxime Lagacé
23. “Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.” — E. James Rohn
24. “Effort means nothing without consistency.” — Janna Cachola
25. “Consistency is the foundation of virtue.” — Francis Bacon
26. “I pray to be like the ocean with soft currents, maybe waves at times. More and more, I want the consistency, rather than the highs and the lows.” — Drew Barrymore
27. “Consistency is the most overrated of all human virtues… I’m someone who changes his mind all the time.” — Malcolm Gladwell
28. “People like consistency. Whether it’s a store or a restaurant, they want to come in and see what you are famous for.” — Millard Drexler
29. “Consistency is one of the biggest factors in leading to accomplishment and success.” — Byron Pulsifer
30. “Truth is built with consistency.” — Lincoln Chafee
31. “You cannot be a winner without maturity and consistency.” — Marco Silva
32. “Consistency is an under-appreciated inspirational quality. It’s that ability to conduct yourself in a consistent, reliable manner that others will respect and appreciate.” — Del Suggs
33. “Consistency is what counts; you have to be able to do things over and over again.” — Hank Aaron
34. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle
35. “Consistency paired with self-discipline is crucial to achieving your goals and being successful.” — Brian Tracy
36. “An intelligent consistency is the foundation of genius.” — Chris Matakas
37. “Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity.” — Bruce Lee
38. “The key to success is consistency. And right now, the only way for you to actually take action is to believe in yourself.” — Zak Frazer
39. “The harder the struggle, the bigger the gain. The important thing is to stick with it, repetitively and consistently.” — Mara Schiavocampo
40. “Being persistent may lead you to the door but consistency is the key which unlocks it.” — Kenny Dasinger
41. “Breakthrough does not only come from hard work but with consistency in working hard.” — Nokwethemba Nkosi
42. “What is consistent in your life, is your life.” — Abdul Rauf
43. “You cannot consistently perform in a manner which is inconsistent with the way you see yourself.” — Zig Ziglar
44. “Constancy is the complement of all other human virtues.” — Giuseppe Mazzini
45. “Inconsistency is the only thing in which men are consistent.” — Horatio Smith
46. “Energy and persistence conquer all things.” — Benjamin Franklin
47. “The hallmark of excellence, the test of greatness, is consistency.” — Jim Tressel
48. “Consistency is found in that work whose whole and detail are suitable to the occasion. It arises from circumstance, custom, and nature.” — Vitruvius
49. “Part of courage is simple consistency.” — Peggy Noonan
50. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” — Robert Collier
51. “Consistency is the fruit of the tree of success. The more you do something effectively and with a goal in mind, the better you will get at it and the more you will feel fulfilled.” — Dan O’Brien
52. “Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
53. “When you look at people who are successful, you will find that they aren’t the people who are motivated, but have consistency in their motivation.” — Arsene Wenger
54. “First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won’t. Habit is persistence in practice.” — Octavia Butler
55. “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” — Albert Einstein
56. “True consistency, that of the prudent and the wise, is to act in conformity with circumstances and not to act always the same way under a change of circumstances.” — John C. Calhoun
57. “In baseball, my theory is to strive for consistency, not to worry about the numbers. If you dwell on statistics, you get shortsighted; if you aim for consistency, the numbers will be there at the end.” — Tom Seaver
58. “You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream — the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order — or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism.” — Ronald Reagan
59. “I'm confident to say that if you want to grow in a profession, consistency is the key… I'm strict about my work goals and training.” — Eliud Kipchoge