Two remarkable sayings, one from the German, the other English, both true, but taking' opposite views of the same matter, come to warn us of a danger on either hand which we must avoid if we would do our best. The English proverb says: "The good is the enemy of the better." Which is to say that because a thing is good we grow content with it and never aspire for a greater, better thing. This is the principle of "letting well enough alone." It arrests any man's growth and holds him on a common plane when he might have excelled. The German proverb, on the other hand, declares that "the best is the enemy of the good." When, for instance, a man has an ideal of how a thing ought to be done, yet knows he can not do it in the highest and best fashion, he may, as a result, just do nothing at all. He might do good work, very good work; but because he can not realize his ideal standard he will not attempt it. Thus his ideal of the best destroys the good he might have done. This latter is a nobler sentiment than the first; but both are alike wrong and [179] unfaithful. To avoid both extremes, adopt Paul's principle. (Phil. 3:12-14.)

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