
“Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.”
“Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.”
19th World Vegetarian Congress 1967
“The lesser of two evils is not the greater good.”
Ron English's Fauxlosophy (2016)
“Politics: the art of convincing decent people to forget the lesser of two evils is also evil.”
Twitter June 11, 2016 https://twitter.com/snowden/status/741584993009438720?lang=en
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.
“Between two evils, choose neither; between two goods, choose both.”
Source: A Dictionary of Thoughts, 1891, p. 68.
“A pessimist is one who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both”
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
Disputed