Perfect is the enemy of good

Perfect is the enemy of good, or more literally the best is the enemy of the good, is an aphorism which is commonly attributed to Voltaire, who quoted an Italian proverb in his Dictionnaire philosophique in 1770: "Il meglio è l'inimico del bene".[1] It subsequently appeared in his moral poem La Bégueule, which starts[2]

Dans ses écrits, un sage Italien
Dit que le mieux est l'ennemi du bien.

(In his writings, a wise Italian
says that the best is the enemy of the good)

Aristotle, Confucius, and other classical philosophers propounded the principle of the golden mean, which counsels against extremism in general.[3] Achieving absolute perfection may be impossible and so, as increasing effort results in diminishing returns, further activity becomes increasingly inefficient.

Robert Watson-Watt, who developed early warning radar in Britain to counter the rapid growth of the Luftwaffe, propounded a "cult of the imperfect", which he stated as "Give them the third best to go on with; the second best comes too late, the best never comes."[4]

See also

References
  1. Susan Ratcliffe (2011), Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Oxford University Press, p. 389, ISBN 978-0199567072
  2. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel; Allen W. Wood; Hugh Barr Nisbet (1991), Elements of the Philosophy of Right, Cambridge University Press, p. 447, ISBN 978-0521348881
  3. Tal Ben-Shahar (2009), The Pursuit of Perfect, McGraw Hill Professional, p. 113, ISBN 978-0-07-160882-4
  4. L Brown (1999), Technical and Military Imperatives: A Radar History of World War 2, p. 64, ISBN 9781420050660

Further reading
  • Eric Johns (October 1988), "Perfect is the Enemy of Good Enough", U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings: 37
  • Robert Watson-Watt (1957), "The Cult of the Imperfect", Three Steps to Victory, Odhams, pp. 74–77
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