First place I ran into the phrase was a book by Robert Heinlein - as a teenager. Made sense to me the hard part was waiting for the library to find a book that covered the subject.

I find it fits well with Rands admonition if your answer is wrong check your premises. Like a glove.

It 's value is forcing me as an individual to examine belief systems and choices. Only had to be accountable to myself and the mirror. That led to self-criticism sessions and one was a simple decision to quit smoking. I would go outside. My daughter came out with a piece of chalk and pretended to smoke. That was the day I quit. Now I apply it to the lesser of two evils concept. It's a a choice but is it moral?

Check your premises. In that case I found the answer was in the statement. By admitting it was evil I was convicting myself of supporting evil. The other false premise? There were only two choices. There are always more choices the easiest was contained in the statement. Sort of a personal Nuremberg Defense which is an automatic plea of guilty coupled to a plea for clemency. I no longer consider following the orders of those who say choose the lesser evil. Instead I look for the best moral choice.

History means what it says and keeps me from being doomed to make the same mistakes. Like starting smoking again.

But it's all my choice How say you?