WIST Quotations

Voltaire -- Letter (1743-06-18) to the Duc de Richelieu

Dave — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 18:05:33 +0000

The best is the enemy of the good.

[Il meglio, è l’inimico del bene.]

Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer [pseud. of Francois-Marie Arouet]
Letter (1743-06-18) to the Duc de Richelieu

A signature phrase of Voltaire's, attributed (by him) to a wise or sage Italian. His French translation is "Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien." Other mentions include an entry on "Art Dramatique" in his Philosophical Dictionary (1764), and the poem "La Bégueule" (1772).

Viereck, Peter -- “Clio is No Cleo: The Messiness of History,” lecture, Mt. Holyoke College (1997)

Dave — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 23:00:31 +0000

The greatest bloodshed? The most murders? I would say two things: sincere love and a sincere devotion to liberty. … If you kill out of love or for the perfect utopia, you never stop killing because human nature is always imperfect.

Peter Viereck (1916–2006) American poet, historian, academic
“Clio is No Cleo: The Messiness of History,” lecture, Mt. Holyoke College (1997)

Reprinted in Society (Mar 2004) and collected in Strict Wildness (2008).

Patton, George S. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 15:04:59 +0000

A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later.

George S. Patton (1885–1945) American soldier
(Attributed)

King, Billie Jean -- Billie Jean (1982)

Dave — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 12:53:07 +0000

The trouble with being number one in the world — at anything — is that it takes a certain mentality to attain that position in the first place, and that is something of a driving, perfectionist attitude, so that once you do achieve number one, you don’t relax and enjoy it.

Billie Jean King (b. 1943) American tennis player
Billie Jean (1982)

Bovee, Christian Nestell -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 14:54:24 +0000

He has but one great fear that fears to do wrong.

Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American epigrammatist, writer, publisher
(Attributed)

In Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895).

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano -- Message (1945-01-06) to Congress, Annual Message (State of the Union)

Dave — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 02:21:50 +0000

Perfectionism, no less than isolationism or imperialism or power politics, may obstruct the paths to international peace. Let us not forget that the retreat to isolationism a quarter of a century ago was started not by a direct attack against international cooperation but against the alleged imperfections of the peace.
In our disillusionment after the last war we preferred international anarchy to international cooperation with Nations which did not see and think exactly as we did. We gave up the hope of gradually achieving a better peace because we had not the courage to fulfill our responsibilities in an admittedly imperfect world.
We must not let that happen again, or we shall follow the same tragic road again — the road to a third world war.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman; US President (1933–45)
Message (1945-01-06) to Congress, Annual Message (State of the Union)

In 1945, Roosevelt delivered the SOTU as a written message to Congress, not as a speech.

See also Voltaire.