中國有句古話「魚和熊掌不可兼得」，本意不是說二者必然不可兼得，而是強調當如果不能兼得的時候，我們應當如何取捨。
英文中也有相類似的表達，但是這個句子和魚，還有熊掌都沒有什麼關係。英文的表達為：
You can't have your cake and eat it, too.
例句：
You can't have your cake and eat it - if you want more local services, you can't expect to pay less tax.
你不能二者兼得——想獲得更多的地方服務就不能指望少付稅金。
You're never going to save enough money to buy a house if you keep buying expensive appliances and cars. You can't have your cake and eat it, too.
如果你繼續買昂貴的家電和汽車，你永遠攢不夠買房子的錢。二者不能兼得。
Too many people want to have their cake and eat it, demanding all sorts of social benefits from the government but being unwilling to pay any taxes to fund them.
太多人想魚和熊掌兼得，要求政府的各種社會福利，但是又不願意交稅。