Quotes About Perfectionism

I've heard that many fine artists have to turn their 'finished' paintings to face the wall - otherwise, every time they walk past, they are tempted to pick up a brush and make small adjustments here and there.

I have a hard time listening to things I've recorded. I don't necessarily go back and enjoy it. Occasionally I'll have the iPod on shuffle and something will come on. Nine times out of ten I'll wince and go on to the next one.

I think there's a tendency with some women especially to internalize and think, 'I have to be perfect at everything before I'm going to put myself out there.' We've got to change that mindset. And I think it starts with confidence.

I definitely have a tendency to only see the blemishes of things, and see lots of things about my acting that I don't like.

I have a tendency toward being a micromanager.

The world is so caught up in the 'American Idol' idealistic sort of tendency in regards to just thinking that this whole thing is what everybody wants, but it doesn't help you make a better record.

I have a tendency to overcut my movies.

I have a tendency to become very self-critical.

I'm terrible at learning lines. I'm good at learning lines when I don't have to be word-perfect.

The first draft often is really fast, and I'd be terribly ashamed if anybody ever saw it.

My attitude to writing is like when you do wallpapering, you remember where all the little bits are that don't meet. And then your friends say: It's terrific!

The terror of the ordinary is what keeps many affluent, educated parents and their kids out of the merely 'decent' schools, the ones that are simply 'fine.'

It's pretty disabling sometimes, the terror of not living up. My expectations are the worst.

I like to comprehend more or less everything around me - apart from the creation of my music. It's an obsessive character trait that's getting worse. I don't switch the light on and off 15 times before I leave the room yet, but something's going wrong.

with grades, with scores. I always had to be the best in my class. It felt like the only way I could measure my success, my self-worth. If you knew the time I put into preparing for the MCAT you wouldn't believe it—it verged on OCD. It's that insane.

Woolf penned roughly 535 words and crossed out 73 of them, netting her 462 words for her day's work. Let's say she worked for three hours. That's about 178 words an hour including the words she deleted—and Woolf was writing at the height of her creative powers.

Yet Junius never saw how much his own unbending style and unrealistically high standards had contributed to Pierpont's slavish dedication to work.

Nadie se resignaba ya a ser en parte bueno y en parte malo, como siempre habían sido, sino que, enardecidos por la grandilocuencia de sus propias mentiras todos querían hacerse pasar por puros y perfectos.

Obsesión, perfeccionismo y un nivel elevado de energía».

La sostenía una voluntad de hierro, un gusto maníaco por la perfección y una increíble testarudez»

Reaching for the stars, perfectionists may end up clutching air. They suffer from mood disorders, troubled relationships, and stress. They may even achieve less than others.

Perfection' is man's ultimate illusion. It simply doesn't exist in the universe.... If you are a perfectionist, you are guaranteed to be a loser in whatever you do.

I have an obsessive character. I manicure my nails at three in the morning because nobody else can do it the right way. Maybe that's the secret to my success.

Having created a business that is a success, when you are in a nepotistic situation, people who don't do anything themselves, well, it is easy for them to say it's never good enough.