“Between two evils, choose neither; between two goods, choose both.”
Tryon Edwards (1809–1894) American theologian
Source: A Dictionary of Thoughts, 1891, p. 68.
19th World Vegetarian Congress 1967
“Between two evils, choose neither; between two goods, choose both.”
Tryon Edwards (1809–1894) American theologian
Source: A Dictionary of Thoughts, 1891, p. 68.
“Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.”
Jerry Garcia (1942–1995) American musician and member of the Grateful Dead
“When choosing the lesser of two evils, always remember, it is still an evil.”
Max Lerner (1902–1992) American journalist and educator
“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.
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) American anthropologist
As quoted in Margaret Mead : Some Personal Views (1979) edited by Rhoda Métraux
As quoted in American Quotations (1992) by Gorton Carruth and Eugene H. Ehrlich
1970s
Variant: At times it may be necessary temporarily to accept a lesser evil, but one must never label a necessary evil as good.
“Politics: the art of convincing decent people to forget the lesser of two evils is also evil.”
Edward Snowden (1983) American whistleblower and former National Security Agency contractor
Twitter June 11, 2016 https://twitter.com/snowden/status/741584993009438720?lang=en
“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)
“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
Friedrich Kellner (1885–1970) German Justice inspector
“Welt muss mehr denn je diese Botschaft hören,” Giessener Allgemeine Zeitung, Giessen, Germany, April 12, 2005.
Attributed