Perfect Enemy of Good

Comments repeatedly invoke the proverb 'perfect is the enemy of good' to caution against letting the pursuit of perfection hinder practical progress or acceptable outcomes in various contexts like technology, engineering, and decision-making.

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#6131
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Keywords

e.g seliger.com GP HN ycombinator.com IOW NASA perfect enemy enemy good perfect enemy good enemy perfect don let perfection let good don flawless

Sample Comments

soperj Feb 8, 2023 View on HN

I think you're letting perfect be the enemy of good.

tgv Sep 16, 2021 View on HN

"Perfect is the enemy of good", or something akin to that, is also good to keep in mind.

SketchySeaBeast Jan 23, 2025 View on HN

Ah, but perfect is the enemy of good.

philistine Aug 17, 2025 View on HN

Like I said, perfect is the enemy of good.

zie Aug 26, 2022 View on HN

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good comes to mind :)

brunoTbear Mar 29, 2021 View on HN

Yes, let perfect be the enemy of the good.

Ah yes, perfect is the enemy of the good.

apexalpha Jun 10, 2025 View on HN

Let's not let perfect become the enemy of better. :)

Wohlf Sep 3, 2020 View on HN

Ah yes, the perfect is the enemy of the good.

nether Mar 10, 2016 View on HN

IOW: Perfect is the enemy of good.