Five Minute Friday - Compromise

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One word. Five minutes to write about it. This is the idea behind Five Minute Friday and this is today's free-writing post.

reach a compromise

don't compromise your principles

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My first reaction when I looked at the word "compromise" is that it's something we shouldn't do. Never compromise your principles or standards. But isn't compromise a good thing in other situations? A willingness to compromise can lead to solutions and reconciliation, right? Compromise can be a good thing or a bad thing - depends what it is you're compromising. I don't usually look up any quotes about the word prompts or what I write about them until after I've finished writing, but there was something I'd heard somewhere about this and I wanted to make sure I quoted it correctly and figured out where it came from. It's this:

This is about principled compromise, not compromised principles. ~John Hume

I needed to be reminded about who said it, and why, and in case you do too, John Hume was an activist and politician that helped to bring about the Anglo-Irish agreement of 1985, and was influential in establishing a peace in Northern Ireland. He shared the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize with David Trimble.

Mr Hume's quote differentiates between a compromise that lowers standards or settles for a lesser evil and a compromise that is a cooperative effort of negotiation in order to achieve a common goal. 

Compromise is not good when we are expected to turn a blind eye to something evil or harmful in order to avoid conflict. It's not good when we are willing to go against what we know to be true or right for some personal gain.

Compromise can be positive and helpful when we are willing to consider other viewpoints or solutions to a problem. Compromise is often necessary to resolve a dispute or establish an equitable agreement.

It's important to know the difference.

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And now, a collection of other quotes that speak about compromise - its danger and its value.

If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing. ~Margaret Thatcher

The 'morality of compromise' sounds contradictory. Compromise is usually a sign of weakness, or an admission of defeat. Strong men don't compromise, it is said, and principles should never be compromised. ~Andrew Carnegie

Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf is better than a whole loaf. ~Gilbert K. Chesterton

Compromise cannot be allowed in cases where the exact truth is ascertainable. ~Arthur Lynch

A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece. ~Ludwig Erhard

Compromise is not about losing. It's about deciding that the other person has just as much right to be happy with the end result as you do. ~Donna Martini

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This post is linked at Five Minute Friday for the word prompt "Compromise".

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