steer a middle course

To take a moderate approach, as opposed to using extreme measures. Sir, I think you need to avoid making any inflammatory statements on this issue and steer a middle course instead.

steer (or take) a middle course

adopt a policy which avoids extremes.

follow/steer/take a middle ˈcourse

find, etc. a/the middle ˈway

follow, find, etc. a plan that is halfway between two opposing plans; compromise: Kate wanted to stay for the rest of the week, and I wanted to leave straight away, so in the end we followed a middle course and stayed a couple of days. ♢ In politics you often have to steer a middle course. OPPOSITE: go to extremes

See also: course, follow, middle, steer, take

References in periodicals archive ?

Hoffmann states that Erasmus took his clue from the orthodox Fathers and sought to steer a middle course between over-allegorizing and under-allegorizing, but he does not note that Erasmus frequently criticizes even his favorite Fathers, Origen, Jerome and Ambrose, for straying too far from the letter in their fanciful exegeses.

Rhetoric and Theology: The Hermeneutic of Erasmus

But in political and legal terms, the new guidelines represent the administration's attempt to steer a middle course on an issue Republicans seized on after their landslide victory in 1994.

CLINTON PLACES 3-YEAR HOLD ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAMS

It's a judgment call, and we try to steer a middle course.

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