A really good compromise is the one that leaves both sides equally dissatisfied. Source?

[VK]

"A really good compromise is the one that leaves both sides equally
dissatisfied."

I always thought of it and referred to as being from Churchill, but
now, after an occasional quotes checkout, it looks like my own made. I
am not pretending on any wisdom copyrights, nor I am claiming it to be
a splendid wisdom. I am just wondering now if there is a Churchill
quote or an expression in English that would lead me to that exact
wording associated with Churchill.

[Bart Mathias]

I hardly think Churchill would have said "is *the* one"!

--
Bart Mathias <mat...@hawaii.edu>

[Hans Aberg]

On 2010/05/16 02:14, Bart Mathias wrote:
>> "A really good compromise is the one that leaves both sides equally
>> dissatisfied."
>>
>> I always thought of it and referred to as being from Churchill, but
>> now, after an occasional quotes checkout, it looks like my own made. I
>> am not pretending on any wisdom copyrights, nor I am claiming it to be
>> a splendid wisdom. I am just wondering now if there is a Churchill
>> quote or an expression in English that would lead me to that exact
>> wording associated with Churchill.
>
> I hardly think Churchill would have said "is *the* one"!

A search gives a Henry Clay Wikiquote article, which says the comedian
Larry David said:

You're unhappy. I'm unhappy too. Have you heard of Henry Clay? He was
the Great Compromiser. A good compromise is when both parties are
dissatisfied, and I think that's what we have here.

A search on "a good compromise is when both parties are dissatisfied"
gives a link that says it is from Series 4 of "Curb Your Enthusiasm".

Hans

[Peter T. Daniels]

"NP is when ..." is prescriptively unacceptable, so it's not likely to
be the original form of the quote. The version in the heading (without
the "the") could be correct. There's nothing along those lines in my
oldish Bartlett; Clay's best-known quote is "I'd rather be right than
President," which he said when it was pointed out that his support for
the Great Compromise nixed his chance to achieve that office.

[Hans Aberg]

The episode aired in 2004, and even when searching for variations, I do
not get any hits before that.

Hans

[Peter T. Daniels]

It does seem like a rather obvious aphorism! OP might try Ben
Franklin. Some cross references in Bartlett suggested him, but there's
nothing for him in the index under "compromise." And Bartlett
certainly doesn't reprint all of Franklin's bons mots!

[Hans Aberg]

Perhaps it takes a comedian to do it. A few years after 2004 it becomes
a legendary saying.

There is nothing in "The Papers of Henry Clay" posted on Google Books. A
search for "compromise" in it gave exactly 100 hits, mostly having to do
with some Compromise bill(s).

Hans

[Peter T. Daniels]

The Great Compromise was one of the most important factors leading to
the Civil War.

[John Atkinson]

Rubbish. It was well known long before 2004. A little googling
produced the following from the California Bar Journal, Sept 1999:

"The old saying that a good agreement is one with which the parties are
equally dissatisfied is baloney."

http://www.calsb.org/calbar/2cbj/99sep/page22-1.htm

The only thing in Larry David's quote that is possibly original is the
use of the word "compromise" instead of "negotiation" or "agreement", etc.

In Allan and Keller's "What is a Just Peace", on p 12, Stanley Hoffman says:

"George Bidault once said that that a good diplomatic agreement was one
with which all parties were equally dissatisfied."

It seems that Bidault said this while he was French foriegn minister,
during the late forties or early fifties. And no doubt he said it in
French.

Of course Bidault may not have been the first to say this. Perhaps it's
been around in France for yonks. If someone searches for a French
version, maybe they'll find something earlier.

John.

[Hans Aberg]

Long?

> In Allan and Keller's "What is a Just Peace", on p 12, Stanley Hoffman
> says:
>
> "George Bidault once said that that a good diplomatic agreement was one
> with which all parties were equally dissatisfied."

This book was published in 2006. Any earlier editions?

> It seems that Bidault said this while he was French foriegn minister,
> during the late forties or early fifties. And no doubt he said it in
> French.
>
> Of course Bidault may not have been the first to say this. Perhaps it's
> been around in France for yonks. If someone searches for a French
> version, maybe they'll find something earlier.

When searching variants, it is easy to find attributions, the oldest
Benjamin Franklin, as suggested above. But I found it hard to find any
verified older original quotes.

Hans

[stansbu...@gmail.com]

I saw the same as Hans Aberg. I also read a small piece which seemed skewed towards divorce and mediation therein that said that the concept was a terrible one and would lead to divorce. I'd like to think otherwise.

First of all, it is impossible to compare the dissatisfaction of two people at this point. But even if we could, I don't believe that a lot of compromises would be an equal proposition as variables like this tend to not be equal. They can be close, but almost never "equal" if you can measure it accurately

That being said, I firmly believe that there is another side to this quote that is implied. Every person has a scale from fully satisfied to fully dissatisfied and it is the same for every person (at least the scale is because there is nothing beyond being fully satisfied or unsatisfied). Therefore, if people are equally dissatisfied with a compromise, they were also equally satisfied with the compromise. While the quote is a "glass half empty" one, I choose to believe that an equal proposition is the most fair, neither party more happy or less happy than the other.