Quotes About Perfectionism

Wherever there's an all-encompassing 'always,' 'all' or 'never' in your life, it's a sign that your mischievous subconscious is setting you up for failure by consistently leading you back toward these repeat performances.

I've learned there's nothing wrong with being a little fussy. I used to pride myself on being low-maintenance - I wore it like a badge of honor.

I was a very, very careful printer when I used 8-by-10 film. I probably spent more time on printing than anything else. The more the prints were appreciated, the more time I spent on them.

You can't allow your creative sessions to be dominated by miniscule editing processes.

The downside of word processing - it's quite possible to never end a work-in-progress.

I was always critiquing my work. I let everybody else around - producers, directors, other actors - they give the nod of approval or the praise. Because I tried to always bring the best, so even if they were happy with it, I was still scrutinizing it.

I don't like to produce albums. I hate producing albums, as a matter of fact, because I'm an obsessed mixer and I can't leave it alone.

When you're a producer and an artist you're very critical of yourself. I like to produce other people, but I'm not that good at producing myself.

You can't be an artist while you're producing, because you'll be over-critiquing the producer part.

I'm never fully satisfied with any Microsoft product.

I don't listen to my songs. The only time I do it is when someone points out a flaw in the end product.

I think if I was less exigent with myself, maybe I would be more productive, because I would put less pressure on my shoulders.

If you're a filmmaker, and every time you finish a film, you just naturally go, 'Oh, I could have done so much better,' that's not much fun, is it, really? You might as well go pick another profession if that really is how you derive satisfaction from it.

I'll lie awake and think about scenes I could have done better, that I could have filmed in a different way.

It's hard to be at your best and to know exactly what is your best at all times because even when you do see yourself, you think you could be better, and you often feel that there is something you could have done differently.

By the time I'm done with a project, it's taken so long that I usually don't even like it anymore. I only see the things I wish I'd done differently.

I am never happy with what I do, so I try not to watch stuff that is filmed with me in it because I am always like, 'Oh, I could have done that a little bit better,' or, 'I could have done that differently - that riff could have been a little better.'

As a musician you're always your own worst critic and you're always digging into your songs and evaluating your own self-worth of things.

Directing her was like directing Lassie. You need 14 takes to get each one of them right.

When I see my movies on the editing table, I do think I could have done them a certain way. The satisfaction is never there even when I'm directing a film. You need to have the feeling that you could have done this better.

I'm my own biggest critic, so no matter what was being said in the media or being said by fans, I feel the worst when I disappoint myself.

I don't often see the movies I'm in; I'm usually disappointed in myself and it only serves to make me self-conscious.

My poetry is the most disappointing thing for me that I've ever written. When I say I can write everything, I don't say I can write everything well.

When I was 27, if I didn't put 15 things in one dish I wasn't happy.