“There's only one real sin, and that is to persuade oneself that the second-best is anything but the second-best.”
Anna Wulf
The Golden Notebook (1962)
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Doris Lessing 94
British novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer … 1919–2013Related quotes
“You are the only you… You are the best you. You will always be the second best anyone else.”
“The best bet is in yourself, the second best is in a cup of coffee.”
“Second thoughts, they say, are best.”
Act II, scene 2.
The Spanish Friar (1681)
“It is the best of all trades, to make songs, and the second best to sing them.”
"On Song", On Everything (1909)
“In this world second thoughts, it seems, are best.”
Variant translations: Among mortals second thoughts are the wisest.
Second thoughts are ever wiser.
Among mortals second thoughts are wisest.
Source: Hippolytus (428 BC), l. 435, as translated by David Grene
“Second is best because God rewards the quest.”
In his sermon, The Promised Land On The Second Try, World Missions Jubilee 2010, Sunday August 8, 2012
International Christian Church (2006-present)
as quoted by [Steven Chu and Charles H. Townes, Biographical Memoirs V.83, National Academies Press, 2003, 0-309-08699-X, 201]
“The best time to launch your new company was a year ago; the second-best time is now.”
Future Proofing You (2021)