Real life is, to most men, a long second-best, a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible but the read more

Real life is, to most men, a long second-best, a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible but the world of pure reason knows no compromise, no practical limitations, no barrier to the creative activity.

For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.

For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.

The swift wind of compromise is a lot more devastating than the sudden jolt of misfortune.

The swift wind of compromise is a lot more devastating than the sudden jolt of misfortune.

A lean compromise is better than a fat lawsuit.

A lean compromise is better than a fat lawsuit.

Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to read more

Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf is better than a whole loaf.

From compromise and things half done, Keep me with stern and stubborn pride; And when at read more

From compromise and things half done, Keep me with stern and stubborn pride; And when at last the fight is won, God, keep me still unsatisfied.

Compromise is never anything but an ignoble truce between the duty of a man and the terror of a coward.

Compromise is never anything but an ignoble truce between the duty of a man and the terror of a coward.

People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable. Actually, all human problems, excepting morals, come read more

People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable. Actually, all human problems, excepting morals, come into the gray areas. Things are not all black and white. There have to be compromises. The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.

The 'morality of compromise' sounds contradictory. Compromise is usually a sign of weakness, or an admission of defeat. Strong men read more

The 'morality of compromise' sounds contradictory. Compromise is usually a sign of weakness, or an admission of defeat. Strong men don't compromise, it is said, and principles should never be compromised.