--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You know that the best you can expect is…" description: "\"You know that the best you can expect is to avoid the worst.\" — Italo Calvino" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/italo-calvino-402_worst_you-know-that-the-best-you-can-expect-is_1702619.jpg" --- # You know that the best you can expect is to avoid the worst. ![“You know that the best you can expect is to avoid the worst.” quote by Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/italo-calvino-402_worst_you-know-that-the-best-you-can-expect-is_1702619.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/italo-calvino-402_worst_you-know-that-the-best-you-can-expect-is_1702619.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/italo-calvino-402_worst_you-know-that-the-best-you-can-expect-is_1702619.jpg) > “You know that the best you can expect is to avoid the worst.” [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The safest expectation is to prevent the worst outcomes rather than aim for the best. **In simple terms:** Avoid the worst, not chase the best. Key Takeaway Focus on risk mitigation. Themes risk management expectations prudence Mood cautious reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - financial planning - health safety - project management - personal decision making Key Concepts probability loss aversion preventive strategy Questions to Reflect On - What risks are you over‑protecting against? - How could embracing some risk improve outcomes? A Different Perspective It may lead to overly cautious behavior that limits opportunity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“idea! Maybe your dreams are nightmares. Make a list of the things you are doing where you can avoid your worst”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-altucher/idea-maybe-your-dreams-are-nightmares-make-a-list-of-the-things-you/) [James Altucher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-altucher/) > [“We don't hope for the best anymore; we just hope to avoid the worst.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmon-okinyo/we-don-t-hope-for-the-best-anymore-we-just-hope-to-avoid-the-worst/) Harmon Okinyo > [You're the sort of person who, on principle, no longer expects anything of anything. There are plenty, younger than you or less young, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/you-re-the-sort-of-person-who-on-principle-no-longer-expects-anything/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [Expectation will only let you down. So Expect less and avoid getting disappointed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghav-singh/expectation-will-only-let-you-down-so-expect-less-and-avoid-getting/) [Raghav Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghav-singh/) > [“Don't Expect too much to avoid disappointment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jervin-balmediano/don-t-expect-too-much-to-avoid-disappointment/) [Jervin Balmediano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jervin-balmediano/) > [“Don't expect too much, to avoid disappointed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jervin-balmediano/don-t-expect-too-much-to-avoid-disappointed/) [Jervin Balmediano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jervin-balmediano/) > [Lets hope for the best, but still expect and prepare for the worst¦](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pob-bismark/lets-hope-for-the-best-but-still-expect-and-prepare-for-the-worst/) POB Bismark > [Hope for the Best. Expect the worst. Life is a play. We're unrehearsed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/hope-for-the-best-expect-the-worst-life-is-a-play-we-re-unrehearsed/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [I have been able to hope for the best, expect the worst, and take what comes along. If there has been one fundamental reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-sarazen/i-have-been-able-to-hope-for-the-best-expect-the-worst-and-take-what/) [Gene Sarazen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-sarazen/) > [Promise to think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best from yourself and others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wooden/promise-to-think-only-the-best-to-work-only-for-the-best-and-to/) [John Wooden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wooden/) > [“Hope for the best and expect the worst.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-ross-symposium/hope-for-the-best-and-expect-the-worst/) Jerry Ross Symposium > [Hope for the best, expect the worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/hope-for-the-best-expect-the-worst/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“Only when I hold onto nothing can I be the best, only then can I be what they expect me to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-condie/only-when-i-hold-onto-nothing-can-i-be-the-best-only-then-can-i-be/) [Ally Condie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-condie/) > [“If you can let it go at not understanding, that's the best anyone could expect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-can-let-it-go-at-not-understanding-that-s-the-best-anyone/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Hope for the best, expect the worst and you will be less shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hope-for-the-best-expect-the-worst-and-you-will-be-less-shocked/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Italo Calvino > [“(one would say yes, if not every day, at least fairly regularly), whether only for yourself or also for others (often only for yourself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/one-would-say-yes-if-not-every-day-at-least-fairly-regularly-whether/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“The Great Khan tried to concentrate on the game: but now it was the game’s reason that eluded him. The end of every game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-great-khan-tried-to-concentrate-on-the-game-but-now-it-was-the/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Or else you can say, like the camel driver who took me there: "I arrived here in my first youth, one morning, many people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/or-else-you-can-say-like-the-camel-driver-who-took-me-there-i-arrived/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“The naked man had lost hope now; he would never be able to return to the earth's surface;he would never leave the bottom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-naked-man-had-lost-hope-now-he-would-never-be-able-to-return-to/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“The art of writing tales consists in an ability to draw the rest of life from the little one has understood of it; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-art-of-writing-tales-consists-in-an-ability-to-draw-the-rest-of/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“I ask you to come down to earth," said the Baron in a calm, rather faint voice, "and to take up the duties of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/i-ask-you-to-come-down-to-earth-said-the-baron-in-a-calm-rather-faint/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [The unconscious is the ocean of the unsayable, of what has been expelled from the land of language, removed as a result of ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-unconscious-is-the-ocean-of-the-unsayable-of-what-has-been/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“... KUBLAI: We have proved that if we were here, we would not be. POLO: And here, in fact, we are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/kublai-we-have-proved-that-if-we-were-here-we-would-not-be-polo-and/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“And yet, in Raissa, at every moment there is a child in a window who laughs seeing a dog that has jumped on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/and-yet-in-raissa-at-every-moment-there-is-a-child-in-a-window-who/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Ludmilla, now you are being read. Your body is being subjected to a systematic reading, through channels of tactile information, visual, olfactory, and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/ludmilla-now-you-are-being-read-your-body-is-being-subjected-to-a/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Once the process of falsification is set in motion, it won't stop. We're in a country where everything that can be falsified has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/once-the-process-of-falsification-is-set-in-motion-it-won-t-stop-we/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Your case gives me new hope," I said to him. "With me, more and more often I happen to pick up a novel that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/your-case-gives-me-new-hope-i-said-to-him-with-me-more-and-more-often/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [We could say, then, that man is an instrument the world employs to renew its own image constantly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/we-could-say-then-that-man-is-an-instrument-the-world-employs-to/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Perhaps it is this story that is a bridge over the void, and as it advances it flings forward news and sensations and emotions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/perhaps-it-is-this-story-that-is-a-bridge-over-the-void-and-as-it/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [Yet, even now, ever time (often) that I find that I don't understand something, then instinctively, I'm filled with the hope that perhaps this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/yet-even-now-ever-time-often-that-i-find-that-i-don-t-understand/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) [Explore all 468 Italo Calvino quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) ## More Avoid quotes > [By eating many fruits and vegetables in place of fast food and junk food, people could avoid obesity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-h-murdock/by-eating-many-fruits-and-vegetables-in-place-of-fast-food-and-junk/) [David H. 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I do want to avoid the use of embryos if possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shinya-yamanaka/patients-lives-are-more-important-than-embryos-i-do-want-to-avoid-the/) [Shinya Yamanaka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shinya-yamanaka/) > [I studiously avoid any academic dissections of the play and any kind of previous experience of playing. For me, it's all in the play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenda-jackson/i-studiously-avoid-any-academic-dissections-of-the-play-and-any-kind/) [Glenda Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenda-jackson/) > [The mark of the man is how he responds to situations. You're not going to avoid tough times. We're all over the barrel some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-short/the-mark-of-the-man-is-how-he-responds-to-situations-you-re-not-going/) [Martin Short](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-short/) > [God knows we are subtle creatures who are more than able to use candour to avoid acknowledging our deceptions of others and ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-hauerwas/god-knows-we-are-subtle-creatures-who-are-more-than-able-to-use/) [Stanley Hauerwas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-hauerwas/) > [Because Techstars is an intensely productive three-month program in which product development and iteration are primary goals, we're constantly looking to streamline our program…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cohen/because-techstars-is-an-intensely-productive-three-month-program-in/) [David Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cohen/) > [Pacifism as a mass movement aims to avoid suffering; pacifists often say that no cause is worth suffering or dying for. The ethos of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-michnik/pacifism-as-a-mass-movement-aims-to-avoid-suffering-pacifists-often/) [Adam Michnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-michnik/) > [Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-safire/last-but-not-least-avoid-cliches-like-the-plague/) [William Safire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-safire/) > [When I was younger, I used humour as a tool to avoid getting too serious with people - if there was deep emotional stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-perry/when-i-was-younger-i-used-humour-as-a-tool-to-avoid-getting-too/) [Matthew Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-perry/) > [I'm quite tactile, so I like fabrics that feel good. I try to avoid fabrics that crease - especially with my son. 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