I imagine we each have different definitions of perfection. Each of us sees the world through our own filters but we can all agree on some things. If something is broken, it is no longer perfect. There is no such thing as a “perfect storm”. In fact, there is no perfect nose or face or toes or place. Perfection is, by the mere definition of the word, generally undefinable and unreachable. Everything and everyone are bound to have flaws whether they are minuscule or glaring, adorable or frustrating.
What one of us may see as a flaw, another may see as perfection. It is all subjective. Embrace life and the people around you and you will find some small bit of perfection in everything.
A good garden may have some weeds. ~ Thomas Fuller
A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault. ~ John Henry Newman
All of us failed to match our dreams of perfection. ~ William Faulkner
Always live up to your standards — by lowering them, if necessary. ~ Mignon McLaughlin
As any artist can tell you, it is easier to reach perfection than to stop there. ~ Robert Brault
Bachelors’ wives and old maids’ children are always perfect. ~ Sébastien-Roch Nicolas
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without. ~ Confucius
Certain flaws are necessary for the whole. It would seem strange if old friends lacked certain quirks. ~ Goethe
Does “anal-retentive” have a hyphen? ~ Alison Bechdel
Even the best needles are not sharp at both ends. ~ Chinese Proverb
Gold cannot be pure, and people cannot be perfect. ~ Chinese Proverb
Have no fear of perfection — you’ll never reach it. ~ Salvador Dali
He that will have a perfect brother must resign himself to remain brotherless. ~ Italian Proverb
He who hath not a dram of folly in his mixture hath pounds of much worse matter in his composition. ~ Charles Lamb
I beat myself up every day, without so much as a scratch. ~ Terri Guillemets
I cling to my imperfection, as the very essence of my being. ~ Anatole France
I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Ideals are absolutes — they are like round holes of perfection into which the square, rough-hewn pegs of reality can never be successfully fitted. ~ Dr. Idel Dreimer
Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny. ~ Carl Schurz
It’s not that perfection cannot be achieved. It’s that it’s so hard to stop there. ~ Robert Brault
Living up to ideals is like doing everyday work with your Sunday clothes on. ~ Ed Howe
No one is perfect — that’s why pencils have erasers. ~ Author Unknown
Nobody’s perfect, and our fondest memories of anyone are of the amusing ways they proved it. ~ Robert Brault
Nothing that is complete breathes. ~ Antonio Porchia, Voces
Once you accept the fact that you’re not perfect, then you develop some confidence. ~ Rosalynn Carter
One minute was enough, Tyler said, 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
Only in grammar can you be more than perfect. ~ William Safire
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
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence. ~ Vince Lombardi
Sometimes… when you hold out for everything, you walk away with nothing. ~ Ally McBeal
Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing. ~ Harriet Braiker
Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well. ~ William Shakespeare
The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form. ~ Stanley J. Randall
The human story does not always unfold like a mathematical calculation on the principle that two and two make four. Sometimes in life they make five or minus three; and sometimes the blackboard topples down in the middle of the sum and leaves the class in disorder and the pedagogue with a black eye. ~ Winston Churchill
The imperfections of a man, his frailties, his faults, are just as important as his virtues. You can’t separate them. They’re wedded. ~ Henry Miller
The most difficult part of attaining perfection is finding something to do for an encore. ~ Author Unknown
The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light. ~ Matthew Arnold
There are no perfect men in this world, only perfect intentions. ~ Pen Densham
They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they’d make up their minds. ~ Wilt Chamberlain
To escape criticism — do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. ~ Elbert Hubbard
Try as hard as we may for perfection, the net result of our labors is an amazing variety of imperfectness. We are surprised at our own versatility in being able to fail in so many different ways. ~ Samuel McChord Crothers
Unless I accept my faults I will most certainly doubt my virtues. ~ Hugh Prather
Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best. ~ Author unknown
When nobody around you seems to measure up, it’s time to check your yardstick. ~ Bill Lemley
When you aim for perfection, you discover it’s a moving target. ~ George Fisher
You can’t hit a home run every time. ~ C.C. Williams, 1959
When weaving a blanket, an Indian woman leaves a flaw in the weaving of that blanket to let the soul out. ~ Martha Graham
