“Never claim anything or anyone is the best. Always second best…leaving room to maneuver.”

“There's only one real sin, and that is to persuade oneself that the second-best is anything but the second-best.”

“First best is falling in love. Second best is being in love. Least best is falling out of love. But any of it is better than never having been in love.”

“Always sleep with one eye open. Never take anything for granted. Your best friends might just be your enemies.”

“According to a frequently cited definition, economics is the study of “best use of scarce resources.” The definition is incomplete. “Second best” use of resources, and outright wasteful uses, have equal claim to attention. They are the other side of the coin.”

“The best of the diviner breed are never wrong because they never set anything in stone.”

“The best bet is in yourself, the second best is in a cup of coffee.”

“I promised to myself that I will never again obey anyone or any authority, government, gods or angels in anything else than in what I accept as the right or the best possible thing to do.”

“It is the best of all trades, to make songs, and the second best to sing them.”

“Never to have lived is best. And the second best/is to grow old with the morning into/afternoon, and then to evening, when sundry shadows and gestures marry/like the vanished divisions of a shut fan.”