In Argentina, the Spanish version of this saying (“Lo mejor es enemigo de lo bueno”) is often attributed to dictator Juan Perón.
However, let us not lose sight of Yvain’s main point, which is not that this sort of slippery slope exists, but that the identifiability heuristic works in part because it avoids it.
There’s a quote about this:
Commonly attributed to Voltaire
It’s also a common Russian saying, FWIW. Maybe we ripped it off from Voltaire, though.
In Russian, it is even more blunt—“better is the enemy of good”, without superlative associated with perfect.
That was Voltaire’s original phrasing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good
Yes, I suppose I mistranslated “luchshiy”. Good call.
In Argentina, the Spanish version of this saying (“Lo mejor es enemigo de lo bueno”) is often attributed to dictator Juan Perón.
However, let us not lose sight of Yvain’s main point, which is not that this sort of slippery slope exists, but that the identifiability heuristic works in part because it avoids it.
Definitive Voltairean wording and source (although Voltaire himself attributes it to an unnamed “Italian sage”):
le mieux est l’ennemi du bien
I saw somewhere on this site (maybe the quotes page?)