The impact of a series resistor (RS) on the variability and endurance performance of memristor was studied in the TaOx memristive system. A dynamic voltage divider between the RS and memristor during both the set and the reset switching cycles can suppress the inherent irregularity of the voltage dropped on the memristor, resulting in a greatly reduced switching variability. By selecting the proper resistance value of RS for the set and reset cycles respectively, we observed a dramatically improved endurance of the TaOx memristor. Such a voltage divider effect can thus be critical for the memristor applications that require low variability, high endurance and fast speed.