The best is the enemy of the good.

Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien.

Voltaire

More information about this quote

Topic

Perfection

Author

Voltaire

Medium

Poem

Language

French

Time

1770 1770s 18th century

Occupation

Philosopher Writer

From

France Europe

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Voltaire. La Bégueule, Conte Moral. Lausanne: Chez François Grasset et Comp, 1772.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Voltaire about perfection: “The best is the enemy of the good.”
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A quote by Voltaire about perfection: “The best is the enemy of the good.”
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A quote by Voltaire about perfection: “The best is the enemy of the good.”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by Voltaire

I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our more stupid melancholy propensities, for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one’s very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?

Voltaire

Candide

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Read Candide at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Love of life

Author

Voltaire
Source
Candide
Medium
Novel
Genre
Satire
Language
French
Time
1759 1750s 18th century
Era
Age of Enlightenment
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Voltaire. Candide, ou l'Optimisme [Candide: or, All for the Best]. Geneva: Gabriel Cramer, 1759, ch. 12.

Current Citation

Voltaire. Candide, edited by Nicholas Cronk. W. W. Norton & Company, 2016, ch. 12.

Another quote from the 1770s

I am convinced that a person doesn't only love himself in others, he also hates himself in others.

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

More information about this quote
Topic
Relationships

Author

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Medium
Personal journal
Language
German
Time
1779 1770s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Lichtenberg, Georg Christoph. Journal "F." c. 1779.

Current Citation

Lichtenberg, Georg Christoph. "Notebook F 1776-1779." The Waste Books, translated by R. J. Hollingdale. NYRB Classics, 2000.

Another quote originally in French

There are no small steps in great affairs.

Jean-Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz

More information about this quote
Topic
Going for it Taking risks

Author

Jean-Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz
Genre
Autobiography and memoir
Language
French
Time
1717 1710s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Gondi Paul De, Jean-Francois. Memoires du Cardinal de Retz [The Memoirs of the cardinal de Retz]. c. 1717, bk. 2.