is, the hardest solution, always the best?

Of course not! The best understood things in sciences are always explain the simplest. If it can't be done or explained simply, something is wrong.

No, the chief of the Cardinal Virtues is PRUDENCE and NOT Fortitude.

No of course not.

No, it's almost always, if not always the simplest solution that is best, the only thing to note is that it has to be something that solves the problem instead of hiding it. Hiding the problem is often easier than solving it, but that's not a solution so it's not actually comparable to actual solutions.

depends on what you are trying to achieve...

depends on what you are trying to achieve...

Occam's Rube Goldberg machine states it is.

The best ideas are the most obvious, but not everything obvious is the best idea.

some time

we don't like the terms of this agreement
that said
what we look for in a solution
as simple as it can be
as complex as it needs to be

Yes. An easy solution is fast but NOT always the best solution.

Well, according to the company I work for, it apparently is.

In reality, nothing is that cut-and-dried. Some solutions that are simple are the best and sometimes the hardest solution is the best.

Rarely. Usually it's the simplest (KISS principle).

Depends on what you are trying to achieve.

The Beatles song "It Don't Comes Easy" gives an answer to the question. I think its a matter of the choices we make. We can choose the High road or Low Road. There is hardly anything so hard that cannot be overcome with temperance and love. We make tough decisions when a situation calls for it; as in a life or death issue. Hard solutions are well determined so it is all for the best if you want the best.

Not always, that's too all inclusive. Details?

maybe but not all the time