“Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil not the strength to choose between the two.”
John Cheever (1912–1982) American novelist and short story writer
The Late Forties and the Fifties, 1956 entry.
The Journals of John Cheever (1991)
“Between two evils, choose neither; between two goods, choose both.”
Source: A Dictionary of Thoughts, 1891, p. 68.
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Do you have more details about the quote "Between two evils, choose neither; between two goods, choose both." by Tryon Edwards?
Tryon Edwards57
American theologian 1809–1894Related quotes
Morarji Desai (1896–1995) Former Indian Finance Minister, Freedom Fighters, Former prime minister
19th World Vegetarian Congress 1967
Friedrich Kellner (1885–1970) German Justice inspector
“Welt muss mehr denn je diese Botschaft hören,” Giessener Allgemeine Zeitung, Giessen, Germany, April 12, 2005.
Attributed
“Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.”
Jerry Garcia (1942–1995) American musician and member of the Grateful Dead
“A pessimist is one who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
Similar quotes are found, unattributed, from as early as 1899 https://books.google.com/books?id=lC81AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA4-PA32&dq=%22two+evils%22+both+pessimist&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMIuveP5uz0yAIVBVqICh0GRQQJ#v=onepage&q=%22two%20evils%22%20both%20pessimist&f=false. First clear attribution to Wilde was not until 1977 https://books.google.com/books?id=eOcWAQAAMAAJ&q=oscar+wilde+%22two+evils%22&dq=oscar+wilde+%22two+evils%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CE4Q6AEwCWoVChMIjMLEuO30yAIVBpSICh0c4Qi9 <br class="br">Disputed
“The choice before human beings, is not, as a rule, between good and evil but between two evils.”
George Orwell (1903–1950) English author and journalist
"No, Not One," The Adelphi (October 1941), p. 7 http://books.google.com/books?id=hdwYAQAAIAAJ&q=%22The+choice+before+human+beings%22&pg=PA7#v=onepage- 8 http://books.google.com/books?id=hdwYAQAAIAAJ&q=%22is+not+as+a+rule+between+good+and+evil+but+between+two+evils%22&pg=PA8#v=onepage <br class="br">Context: The choice before human beings, is not, as a rule, between good and evil but between two evils. You can let the Nazis rule the world: that is evil; or you can overthrow them by war, which is also evil. There is no other choice before you, and whichever you choose you will not come out with clean hands.