"The compromise will always be more expensive than either of the suggestions it is compromising"
About this Quote
Compromise is supposed to be the grown-up move: pragmatic, peacekeeping, politically saleable. Arthur Bloch punctures that civic bedtime story with a single, nasty little accounting trick. By insisting the compromise is "always more expensive", he reframes moderation not as wisdom but as a kind of hidden surcharge - the fee you pay for avoiding a clean choice.
The line works because it drags a moral virtue into the cold light of logistics. "Either of the suggestions" implies two clear paths with defined costs; the compromise becomes a third path that inherits the burdens of both while gaining the benefits of neither. Subtext: when you split the difference, you often double the work. You build the committee, draft the hybrid plan, manage bruised egos, add exceptions, create parallel systems, and then pay ongoing maintenance for a solution nobody loves enough to defend when it breaks.
Bloch, best known for Murphy's Law-style observations, is writing from the perspective of organizational entropy: institutions don't average out; they accrete. The cynicism isn't anti-cooperation so much as anti-self-congratulation. He is mocking the performative center - the kind that confuses tension reduction with problem solving.
Contextually, it lands in any arena where consensus is a fetish: legislatures that produce bloated bills, product teams that ship Frankenstein features, families that "keep the peace" by buying two of everything. The quote's bite is its warning that compromise can be less a bridge than a toll road: pricey, crowded, and built mainly to prove you built something.
The line works because it drags a moral virtue into the cold light of logistics. "Either of the suggestions" implies two clear paths with defined costs; the compromise becomes a third path that inherits the burdens of both while gaining the benefits of neither. Subtext: when you split the difference, you often double the work. You build the committee, draft the hybrid plan, manage bruised egos, add exceptions, create parallel systems, and then pay ongoing maintenance for a solution nobody loves enough to defend when it breaks.
Bloch, best known for Murphy's Law-style observations, is writing from the perspective of organizational entropy: institutions don't average out; they accrete. The cynicism isn't anti-cooperation so much as anti-self-congratulation. He is mocking the performative center - the kind that confuses tension reduction with problem solving.
Contextually, it lands in any arena where consensus is a fetish: legislatures that produce bloated bills, product teams that ship Frankenstein features, families that "keep the peace" by buying two of everything. The quote's bite is its warning that compromise can be less a bridge than a toll road: pricey, crowded, and built mainly to prove you built something.
Quote Details
| Topic | Decision-Making |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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