All of us failed to match our dreams of perfection. So I rate us on the basis of our splendid failure to do the impossible.
—William Faulkner (1897–1962) American Novelist
Washington had performed his role to perfection. It was no enough that a leader look the part; by Washington’s rules, he must know how to act it with self-command and precision.
—David McCullough (b.1933) American Historian
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.
—Chinese Proverb
The world is satisfied with words, few care to dive beneath the surface.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
I don’t like a man to be too efficient. He’s likely to be not human enough.
—Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American Judge
Execution is really the critical part of a successful strategy. Getting it done, getting it done right, getting it done better than the next person is far more important than dreaming up new visions of the future. All of the great companies in the world out-execute their competitors day in and day out in the marketplace, in their manufacturing plants, in their logistics, in their inventory turns—in just about everything they do. Rarely do great companies have a proprietary position that insulates them from the constant hand-to-hand combat of competition.
—Louis V. Gerstner Jr. (b.1942) American Businessman
Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make yourself a happier and more productive person.
—David M. Burns
When everything has to be right, something isn’t.
—Stanislaw Jerzy Lec (1909–1966) Polish Aphorist, Poet
Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day.
—Polish Proverb
There are few things more disturbing than to find, in somebody we detest, a moral quality which seems to us demonstrably superior to anything we ourselves possess. It augurs not merely an unfairness on the part of creation, but a lack of artistic judgment. Sainthood is acceptable only in saints.
—Pamela Hansford Johnson (1912–81) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Literary Critic, Social Critic
The organizations of men, like men themselves, seem subject to deafness, near-sightedness, lameness, and involuntary cruelty. We seem tragically unable to help one another, to understand one another.
—John Cheever
How would it be possible if salvation were ready to our hand, and could without great labor be found, that it should be by almost all men neglected? But all things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.
—Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) Dutch Philosopher
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 (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Only in grammar can you be more than perfect.
—William Safire (1929–2009) American Columnist, Journalist, Author, Speechwriter
Perfection does not exist. To understand this is the triumph of human intelligence; to expect to possess it is the most dangerous kind of madness.
—Alfred de Musset (1810–57) French Dramatist, Poet, Novelist
Unless I accept my faults, I will most certainly doubt my virtues.
—Hugh Prather (b.1938) American Christian Author, Minister, Counselor
If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
Once you accept the fact that you’re not perfect, then you develop some confidence.
—Rosalynn Carter (b.1927) American Humanitarian, First Lady
Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they’d make up their minds.
—Wilt Chamberlain (1936–99) American Sportsperson
Easy is right. Begin right, and you will be easy. Continue easy and you are right… The right way to go easy is to forget the right way, and forget that the going is easy.
—Zhuang Zhou (369BCE–286BCE) Chinese Philosopher
If there was nothing wrong in the world there wouldn’t be anything for us to do.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
His only fault is that he has no fault.
—Pliny the Younger (61–112) Ancient Roman Lawyer, Author, Magistrate
The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form.
—Stan Randall (1908–89) Canadian Businessperson, Politician
Imperfection clings to a person, and if they wait till they are brushed off entirely, they would spin for ever on their axis, advancing nowhere.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
You just have to learn not to care about the dust-mice under the beds.
—Margaret Mead (1901–78) American Anthropologist, Social Psychologist
One must not hold one’s self so divine as to be unwilling occasionally to make improvements in one’s creations.
—Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) German Composer, Musician
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 (1934–2016) Canadian Singer, Songwriter, Poet, Novelist
To talk about the need for perfection in man is to talk about the need for another species.
—Norman Cousins (1915–90) American Journalist, Author, Academic, Activist
I like a man with faults, especially when he knows it. To err is human – I’m uncomfortable around gods.
—Hugh Prather (b.1938) American Christian Author, Minister, Counselor
To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Measure not by the scale of perfection the meager product of reality.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active –not more happy –nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–49) American Poet
At times failure is very necessary for the artist. It reminds him that failure is not the ultimate disaster. And this reminder liberates him from the mean fussing of perfectionism.
—John Berger (1926–2017) English Art Critic, Novelist
Nothing would be done at all if one waited until one could do it so well that no one could find fault with it.
—John Henry Newman (1801–90) British Theologian, Poet
The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
If you perform the sacrifice of doing your duty, you do not have to do anything else. Devoted to duty, man attains perfection.
—The Bhagavad Gita Hindu Scripture
I do not know what comfort other people find in considering the weakness of great men, but ’tis always a mortification to me to observe that there is no perfection in humanity.
—Samuel S. Montague
You know you’ve achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing more to take away.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator
Gold cannot be pure, and people cannot be perfect.
—Chinese Proverb
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
The intellect of man is forced to choose perfection of the life, or of the work, and if it take the second must refuse a heavenly mansion, raging in the dark.
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) Irish Poet, Dramatist
No good work whatever can be perfect, and the demand for perfection is always a sign of a misunderstanding of the ends of art.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Art Critic, Social Thinker
Always live up to your standards – by lowering them, if necessary.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
Friendships aren’t perfect and yet they are very precious. For me, not expecting perfection all in one place was a great release.
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (b.1939) American Writer, Journalist
Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them—every day begin the task anew.
—Francis de Sales (1567–1622) French Catholic Saint
Perfectionism is slow death.
—Hugh Prather (b.1938) American Christian Author, Minister, Counselor
You see, when weaving a blanket, an Indian woman leaves a flaw in the weaving of that blanket to let the soul out.
—Martha Graham (1894–1991) American Choreographer
All of us have failed to reach our dream of perfection, so I rate us on the basis of our splendid failure to do the impossible.
—William Faulkner (1897–1962) American Novelist