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The perfect is the enemy of the good.

Voltaire, 1770s

Philosophy

The story behind the card

This one really is Voltaire's, though he offered it as borrowed wisdom. Voltaire was the pen name of François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778), the French Enlightenment writer. He quoted the Italian proverb ‘il meglio è l'inimico del bene’ in his Dictionnaire philosophique, and in 1772 opened his verse tale ‘La Bégueule’ by saying that a wise Italian holds ‘le mieux est l'ennemi du bien’. Word for word: the better is the enemy of the good. Chasing a flawless version can stop a good one from ever being finished, which is why writers, engineers and managers still quote it.

Türkçe oku
Mükemmel, iyinin düşmanıdır.
Voltaire, 1770'ler

Bu söz gerçekten Voltaire'indir, ama o bunu kendi buluşu olarak değil, ödünç bir bilgelik olarak sundu. Voltaire, Fransız Aydınlanma yazarı François-Marie Arouet'nin (1694–1778) takma adıdır. Felsefe Sözlüğü'nde İtalyanca “il meglio è l'inimico del bene” atasözünü aktardı. 1772'de yazdığı “La Bégueule” adlı manzum hikâyeye de bilge bir İtalyan'ın “le mieux est l'ennemi du bien” dediğini söyleyerek başladı. Kelimesi kelimesine “daha iyi, iyinin düşmanıdır” demektir. Kusursuzun peşine düşmek iyi bir işin hiç bitmemesine yol açabilir; yazarlar, mühendisler ve yöneticiler bu sözü bu yüzden hâlâ anar.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Voltaire
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