More is the enemy of enough

 

 

'More' 

is the enemy of

'enough'

(Ssh)

 

 

Inspired by and extending on:

- a quote from Epicurus:

Nothing is enough to the man to whom enough is too little.

- a quote from King Lear by Shakespeare (1606):

[S]triving to better, oft we mar what's well

   

- a quote from Montesquieu (1726)

Le mieux est le mortel ennemi du bien

- an Italian proverb:

Le meglio è l'inimico del bene

- that was cited by Voltaire (1770):

Dans ses écrits, un sage Italien

Dit que le mieux est l'ennemi du bien.

- and some lines from Richard Powers' novel The Overstory (2018)

 

A reporter once asked Rockefeller how much is enough. His answer: just a little bit more. And that's all we want: to eat and sleep, to stay dry and be loved, and to acquire just a little bit more. (p.564)

 

For more, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good