Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

le mieux est l’ennemi du bien!

English translation:

the perfect is the enemy of the good

Added to glossary by Michele Fauble
Feb 7, 2023 22:55
1 yr ago
61 viewers *
French term

le mieux est l’ennemi du bien!

French to English Art/Literary Media / Multimedia Plubicité
Étymologie
Modifier
Phrase de Voltaire, dans La Bégueule, 1772 :
Change log

Feb 15, 2023 17:16: Michele Fauble Created KOG entry

Discussion

Conor McAuley Feb 8, 2023:
Every poet is a thief etc. "« Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien » est une citation extraite d'un ouvrage de Voltaire (apparemment empruntée à Montesquieu : le mieux est l'ennemi mortel du bien)." says one source on the internet, and others agree.


Given that the source work is cited, presumably a "classic" translation is required. But who knows?


And may I be so bold as to offer a saying of my own:
"A question well asked..." etc. etc.
Conor McAuley Feb 8, 2023:
It's called humour, Emmanuella.
Emmanuella Feb 8, 2023:
Conor McAuley Feb 7, 2023:
I've heard Bono say "Good is the enemy of the great" (but I'm not sure it's a Bono original or him quoting someone else).

Proposed translations

+9
3 mins
Selected

the perfect is the enemy of the good

Usual translation

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Note added at 5 mins (2023-02-07 23:01:07 GMT)
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voltaire — 'Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien. (The perfect is the enemy of the good.)'
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/215866-le-mieux-est-l-ennem...
Peer comment(s):

agree writeaway
13 mins
thanks
agree Conor McAuley : Wasn't Voltaire the electricity guy?
19 mins
thanks
agree Mollie Milesi
4 hrs
thanks
agree Daryo : Simply
9 hrs
thanks
agree Samuël Buysschaert
11 hrs
thanks
agree Nicolas Gambardella : "Perfect is the enemy of good", no article. There is even a Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good
11 hrs
thanks - but with the article
agree Gladis Audi, DipTrans
11 hrs
thanks
neutral Emmanuella : Le mieux = superlatif , i.e the best
12 hrs
thanks - I don’t think asker needs help with a literal translation, but wants an English equivalent.
agree Eliza Hall : Nicolas G. is incorrect about not using articles. This saying has articles in English.
15 hrs
thanks - yes, that’s right.
agree Carol Gullidge : On reflection I agree with this interpretation, although I wish it cd sound less clunky, esp. if required for a logo (??)
1 day 13 hrs
thanks
agree Anastasia Kalantzi : "Perfect is the enemy of good" https://www.betterup.com/blog/perfect-is-the-enemy-of-good
2 days 18 hrs
thanks
disagree Kathleen Kownacki : Quite close to correct, but it is "Perfect is the enemy of good" in native-level quality English. https://hbr.org/tip/2020/02/dont-let-perfect-be-the-enemy-of... https://fairygodboss.com/career-topics/perfect-is-the-enemy-... etc.
25 days
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Merci !"
+4
39 mins

leave well alone

You say 'publicité', so unless the advert is intended to be linked to Voltaire for some reason (and I don't know that many people would make the connection), I see no reason to use a 'translation' when we have an equivalent saying in English: leave well alone.

Of course that doesn't mean 'leave somebody well alone' but leave what is well/good alone (for fear of making it worse).

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Note added at 45 mins (2023-02-07 23:40:19 GMT)
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"leave well alone
to allow something to stay as it is because doing more might make things worse:"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/leave...

Also said as 'leave well enough alone'
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/leave_well_enough_alone#Engli...

Also 'Let well alone' as I pointed out in 2009: "I've always heard and said "LEAVE well alone", but this may be a "modern" variation on the original which a/c to the Oxford Book of Proverbs can be traced back to 1570 as "LET well alone", in which " Well is normally considered [here] as a noun ('what is well'), rather than an adverb".
The answer chosen in this case was 'leave well alone'.
https://www.proz.com/kudoz/french-to-english/idioms-maxims-s...
Peer comment(s):

neutral Tony M : I've never understood 'well' as a noun here — makes sense, but too archaic for modern usage, where people will think of it like "steer well clear" etc. This sounds almost to me like "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" — but proper context would help!
8 hrs
I must indeed be archaic. I'd still write Dear Sir or Madam, but it seems that's out these days and one writes Hey Marie-Dominique (or whatever).
neutral Daryo : Once you know the meaning, is makes perfect sense and couldn't be more concise. Only problem being, how many people would understand it the right way? More than if you simply used the FR version?
8 hrs
I've known the expression for over 50 years, but then I'm cultured ;-)
agree FPC
10 hrs
Thanks
agree Carol Gullidge : I see no problem with this, even after using and understanding it for many decades!
11 hrs
Ah, someone who shares my values!
agree Emmanuella
11 hrs
Thanks
agree Anastasia Kalantzi
2 days 19 hrs
Something went wrong...
+4
10 hrs

If it's not broken, don't fix it

There's little context to go by, but the headings mention multimedia and publicity. I propose a variation on the theme, with a known standard sentence in the same ballpark, which also means that if something is already working fine there's no need to try and improve it because you may even end up worse off. Others may have better solutions of course (including the literal time-honoured translation)
Peer comment(s):

agree Bourth : If you don't want to sound archaic, try "If it AIN'T BROKE ..." ;-), as Tony says.
15 mins
agree Gladis Audi, DipTrans : If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Absolutely.
46 mins
agree Carol Gullidge : Yes, depending on the (as yet unspecified) context
1 hr
agree Anastasia Kalantzi
2 days 9 hrs
Something went wrong...
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