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Quotations about Perfection
The indefatigable pursuit of an unattainable Perfection, — even though nothing more than the pounding of an old piano, — is what alone gives a meaning to our life on this unavailing Star. ~Logan Pearsall Smith
Perfection is the greatest flirt of them all. ~Henry Stanley Haskins, "Marginalia," Meditations in Wall Street, 1940
Nobody's perfect, and our fondest memories of anyone are of the amusing ways they proved it. ~Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com
It's better to be perfectly useful than uselessly perfect. ~Dr. Idel Dreimer, lumpenbangenpiano.com
Nothing that is complete breathes. ~Antonio Porchia (1886–1968), Voces, 1943–1966, translated from the Spanish by W.S. Merwin (1927–2019), c.1968
You are doomed to failure... and the reason is that you... are too perfect. ~Hughes Mearns, Richard Richard, 1916
...for nothing would be done at all, if a man waited till he could do it so well, that no one could find fault with it. ~John Henry Newman
Too much concern with quality may be counter-productive. Perfection can be an oppressive bird of caution sitting on the shoulder of creativity, dampening its spirit. Enthusiasm, which throws the dice freely and more often, may yield more quality than doubt, which, obsessed with perfection, fears to take a chance. ~Dr. Idel Dreimer, personal communication, 2017, lumpenbangenpiano.com
Only in grammar can you be more than perfect. ~William Safire
...go on, my dear child, and never think that you are come to a sufficient degree of perfection... in those shining parts of the character of a gentleman, there is always something remaining to be acquired. ~Lord Chesterfield, letter to his son, 1751
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in...
~Leonard Cohen, "Anthem," 1992
No man that lives can satisfy everybody. The recipe for perfect peace is, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. ~Elbert Hubbard
The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form. ~20,000 Quips & Quotes, Evan Esar, 1968
I love a Fool — as naturally, as if I were of kith and kin to him... And take my word for this, reader, and say a fool told it you, if you please, that he who hath not a dram of folly in his mixture, hath pounds of much worse matter in his composition. ~Charles Lamb, "All Fools Day," Essays of Elia
The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light. ~Matthew Arnold
If anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away... ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939, translated from the French by Lewis Galantière
Striving to better, oft we mar what's well. ~William Shakespeare, King Lear, c.1605 [I, 4, Duke of Albany]
It's not that perfection cannot be achieved. It's that it's so hard to stop there. ~Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com
As any artist can tell you, it is easier to reach perfection than to stop there. ~Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com
A good garden may have some weeds. ~Proverb
It takes time to get the knack of it. It is foolish to reserve all our praise for perfection. That gives us an unpleasant impression, such as that which we receive from a person who, when there is a call for small change, produces a bank bill of a large denomination, which he knows no one can break for him. ~Samuel McChord Crothers, "The Difficulties of the Peace-Makers," The Pardoner's Wallet, 1905
It is not that we are perfect in the eyes of love but rather that our imperfections are lovable. ~Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com
Perfection does not exist; to comprehend it is the triumph of human intelligence; to desire to possess it, the most dangerous of follies. Open your window, Octave; do you not see the infinite? You try to form some idea of a thing that has no limits, you who were born yesterday and who will die to-morrow?... Perfection, my friend, is no more made for us than infinity. We must seek for nothing in it, demand nothing of it, neither love nor beauty, happiness nor virtue.... ~Alfred de Musset, The Confession of a Child of the Century/La Confession d'un enfant du siècle, 1836, Desgenais to Octave, translated from French by Kendall Warren
I beat myself up every day, without so much as a scratch. ~Terri Guillemets, "Perfectionism," 1990
Try as hard as we may for perfection, the net result of our labors is an amazing variety of imperfectnesses. We are surprised at our own versatility in being able to fail in so many different ways. ~Samuel McChord Crothers, "The Mission of Humor," The Gentle Reader, 1903
Our capacity for imperfectness seems absolutely unlimited. ~Samuel McChord Crothers, "The Pardoner," The Pardoner's Wallet, 1905
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