paralysis (as in the dilemma of being given a choice between two equally appealing alternatives and thus being able to choose neither) n.: Buridan’s ass
[This term is attributed to fourth century French philosopher Jean Buridan, who presented a situation where an ass is given the option of two equally wonderful piles of hay, and starves to death because it cannot choose].
Sarah Jessica Parker has . . . Buridan’s ass. Poor girl. . . . In the issue of Newsweek that commemorates the anniversary of September 11, Little Miss Zeitgeist is asked to choose between “a pair of Manolos and a Kelly bag,” and she replies, “Oh, well, that’s like Sophie’sChoice. That’s an impossible situation.” This is what passes for smart in Manhattan now. (Leon Wieseltier, Washington Diarist, New Republic, 9/22/2003.)
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