In "Self-Reliance" by Ralph Emerson, what does the following quote mean?"With consistency a great soul has simply has nothing to do. He may as...

What Emerson means here is that you should not get too
caught up in making sure that you have the same ideas one day as you had the day
before.  That is what he means by consistency -- it is looking like you do not change
your mind a lot.

Emerson thinks that it is stupid to be
afraid to change your mind.  This is what he means when he says that "a foolish
consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."  He says that we should change our minds
whenever we think that it is the right thing to do.  That is part of the idea (a big one
for the Transcendentalists) that we should always follow our consciences and do what we
think is right at any given time.  Here's my favorite quote on that
idea:

Else if
you would be a man speak what you think today in words as hard as cannon balls, and
tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every
thing you said today.