Faustian bargain

Cultural  

1. Faust, in the legend, traded his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge. To “strike a Faustian bargain” is to be willing to sacrifice anything to satisfy a limitless desire for knowledge or power.

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Example Sentences

Other versions of the Faustian bargain tale end in regret; in this one, Johnson is content with his choice.

From The Wall Street Journal

But if the episode is meant as a moral fork in the road, in which the hero refuses a Faustian bargain, Varoufakis nonetheless seems a bit too impressed with himself over this intimate encounter with the ultimate insider, a man who had haunted the capitalist world’s corridors of power for more than 30 years.

From Salon

If we regard Matt’s promise to Mill to play to the lowest common denominator as a Faustian bargain, it’s not one that seems to have any long-term consequences, only scrambling in the moment to keep his job and a modicum of self-respect.

From Los Angeles Times

They made a Faustian bargain together.

From Salon

Melissa: Plastics are such a Faustian bargain.

From Seattle Times