Best of both worlds

For other meanings, see Best of Both Worlds (an album) or The Best of Both Worlds (a Star Trek episode).

The saying best of both worlds is generally applied where the advantages of two alternatives are exploited by using both alternatives in parallel, as opposed to selecting one alternative (as the term "alternative" inherently suggests) and then coping with the shortcomings of the decision.

The saying was originated by the French philosopher Voltaire in his satiric novel Candide, wherein one of the characters repeatedly uses the phrase.

An example

• A user of an IBM PC compatible computer may be faced with the difficult decision of which of the most popular operating systems, Microsoft Windows or GNU/Linux, to use. Whichever choice is made, supporters of the respective alternative will engage in operating system advocacy by attempting to convince them that their choice was bad for various reasons. A user who sets up two computers and runs each operating system on each, always using the one which in his view is more suitable for the task at hand, may be said to exploit the best of both worlds, "worlds" here referring to "the Windows world and the GNU/Linux world".

See also

• List of English proverbs