middle path
Neither extreme chosen
Middle path refers to a course between extremes, avoiding excess in either direction.
The term comes from Buddhist teaching, where the Middle Way rejects both severe asceticism and indulgent pleasure-seeking.
More broadly, it describes any moderate approach: She tried to find a middle path between strict discipline and total permissiveness.
Also called the middle way.
- golden meanIdeal moderate position
- moderationAvoidance of excess
- balanceSteadiness or amount owed
- equilibriumState of balance
- temperanceHabitual moderation in behavior
compromise · non-attachment · fairness · both sides · equanimity · Buddhism · Taoism · proportionality · duality · reconciliation · mindfulness · dharma · prudence · centered · neither · walking · walk the line · justice
- compromisecompromise, meet halfway, give and take, give-and-take, common ground
- centrismmoderates, moderation, compromise, bipartisanship, independents
- Madhyamakaemptiness, two truths, ultimate truth, pratityasamutpada
middle pathextremism
Ideology beyond accepted norms
fanaticism · zealotry · maximalism · fundamentalism · extreme
middle pathabsolutism
Unrestricted governmental authority
black-and-white thinking · binary thinking · all or nothing · polarization · my way or the highway
middle pathexcess
Surplus beyond need
overindulgence · hedonism · austerity · deprivation · gluttony