Thursday, September 22, 2011

Small Moments of Joy - Petits moments de joie

We language learners live on tiny spikes of happiness. So it was when I came across and, more importantly, understood: “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien” (This is a famous quote by Voltaire and is a favourite quote of software domain; no wonder software are so buggy; but I am digressing).
I was reading the article “Beta-Think” by Michael Bungay Stanier included in the brilliant initiative to End Malaria (p. 55). (For more details go to http://endmalariaday.com/; by the way, I am very proud that $20 of my money will go to buy two mosquito nets that will help eradicate malaria.)
“Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien”.
Le mieux => the best. “Mieux” means better. C’est mieux => It is better. But with the pronoun “Le”, Le mieux means the best.
L’ennemi even looks like distorted “enemy”.
Le bien. Bien generally means well, as in bienvenue (well-come => welcome). But in this context it means the good.
To translate: The best is the enemy of the good.

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