Good measure is a merry mean.

Well-being is found in proportion and restraint rather than excess. The saying praises a balanced course, presenting moderation not as bleak self-denial but as a cheerful and satisfying way to live; here, “mean” means a middle course, not cruelty or stinginess.

It can advise a sensible middle course when competing impulses pull toward extremes. What is good is properly measured: enough to be wholesome and enjoyable, without becoming damaging or wasteful. It favors balance, but does not imply that every opposing position is equally sound.

Use it to commend moderation in spending, pleasure, work, food, or a disputed choice. Its older phrasing gives it a proverbial, literary tone; explain that “mean” denotes a middle course if listeners may understand it as “unkind.”