<P> The phrase is found in Italian as Il meglio è nemico del bene (The better is enemy of the good), attested since the 1603 Proverbi italiani (Italian Proverbs), by Orlando Pescetti . </P> <P> The phrase was popularized by Voltaire . He first used the saying in Italian in the article "Art Dramatique" in the 1770 edition of the Dictionnaire philosophique . It subsequently appeared in French in his moral poem, "La Bégueule", in Contes (Tales), 1772, which starts, ascribing it to an unnamed "Italian sage" or "wise Italian": </P> <P> Dans ses écrits, un sage Italien Dit que le mieux est l'ennemi du bien . (In his writings, a wise Italian says that the better is the enemy of good .) </P> <P> This sentiment in English literature can be traced back to Shakespeare, In his tragedy, King Lear, the Duke of Albany warns of "striving to better, oft we mar what's well" and in Sonnet 103: </P>

The good is the enemy of the perfect