quotations about perfection
It's very hard to grow up in a perfect family when you're not perfect.
E. L. JAMES
Fifty Shades of Grey
A person had to work hard for it, but a minute of perfection was worth the effort. A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection.
CHUCK PALAHNIUK
Fight Club
For just one second, look at your life and see how perfect it is. Stop looking for the next secret door that is going to lead you to your real life. Stop waiting. This is it: there's nothing else. It's here, and you'd better decide to enjoy it or you're going to be miserable wherever you go, for the rest of your life, forever.
LEV GROSSMAN
The Magicians
That is the true perfection of man to find out his imperfections.
AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
attributed, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers
You tell me of degrees of perfection to which human nature is capable of arriving, and I believe it, but at the same time lament that our admiration should arise from the scarcity of the instances.
ABIGAIL ADAMS
letter to John Adams, November 27, 1775
We are able to discern not only what we already are, but what we may become, to see in ourselves germs and promises of a growth to which no bounds can be set, to dart beyond what we have actually gained to the idea of perfection as the end of our being.
WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING
"Self-Culture"
Perfection is the mere repudiation of that ineluctable marginal inexactitude which is the inmost quality of Being.
H. G. WELLS
A Modern Utopia
Producing perfection from imperfection is, after all, the highest of art forms.
FRANK HERBERT
Chapterhouse: Dune
A certain type of perfection can only be realized through a limitless accumulation of the imperfect.
HARUKI MURAKAMI
Kafka on the Shore
Where is perfection? Where I cannot reach.
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
letter to Thomas Jefferson Hogg, June 16, 1811
We worship perfection because we can't have it; if we had it, we would reject it. Perfection is inhuman, because humanity is imperfect.
FERNANDO PESSOA
The Book of Disquiet
There's no such thing as a perfect guy. I think it would be strange if somebody was absolutely everything you always wanted, because then there'd be no challenge. Also, you'd feel inferior. If somebody is that perfect, how can you not think of yourself as being so imperfect next to him? I think people are perfect in their imperfections.
JESSICA ALBA
Maxim, November 2003
Since there must be chimeras, why is not perfection the chimera of all men?
MADAME SWETCHINE
"Airelles", The Writings of Madame Swetchine
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
LEONARD COHEN
"Anthem"
Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.
BIBLE
Deuteronomy 18:13
Why should not such perfection be enjoined on man, although in this life nobody may attain to it? The course is a right one, even if it be not known whereunto it must finally run.
AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
A Treatise Concerning Man's Perfection in Righteousness
Striving for perfection is a common theme among women--one that society has ingrained early on through stereotypes, culture and media. Instead of being encouraged to fail, explore, and enjoy the journey, girls and women are expected, even encouraged, not to share their ideas until they are perfected and ready for presentation. This approach teaches girls to constantly edit themselves, limiting the possibilities for authentic self-expression. And even more worrisome, this syndrome hinders women's ability to grow and lead with confidence, contributing to the gender gap that is improving, but far from equal.
SELINA PETOSA
"Teaching Women How to Short-Circuit the Female 'Perfection' Wiring", Huffington Post, April 5, 2016
I think seeking perfection in human affairs is a perfect way to destroy them.
JARON LANIER
"Jaron Lanier: The Internet Destroyed the Middle Class", Salon, May 12, 2013
Perfection is the dream of imperfection that refuses to wake up.
FAUSTO CERCIGNANI
attributed, Quotes We Cherish: Quotations from Fausto Cercignani
When all the details fit in perfectly, something is probably wrong with the story.
CHARLES BAXTER
Burning Down the House