Quotes About Perfection

Only one rabbi dared to expect of us such a perfect balance that we could preserve the law and still forgive the deviation. So, of course, we killed him.

Nobody would notice you, except to feel sorry for the little kid. But I made sure they all noticed you today. They'll be watching every move you make. All you have to do to earn their respect now is be perfect.

I hope, Cecily, I shall not offend you if I state quite frankly and openly that you seem to me to be in every way the visible personification of absolute perfection.

It is through art, and through art only, that we can realise our perfection.

Would you be in any way offended if I said that you seem to me to be in every way the visible personification of absolute perfection?

Art finds her own perfection within, and not outside of, herself. She is not to be judged by any external standard of resemblance.

Behind the perfection of a man's style, must lie the passion of a man's soul.

The perfection is not so much in the performance as in the journey towards it. This is the joy. You must burn!

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.

The expectations of life depend upon diligence the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.

It is true that we shall not be able to reach perfection, but in our struggle toward it we shall strengthen our characters and give stability to our ideas, so that, whilst ever advancing calmly in the same direction, we shall be rendered capable of applying the faculties with which we have been gifted to the best possible account.

I like what I do. Some writers have said in print that they hated writing and it was just a chore and a burden. I certainly don't feel that way about it. Sometimes it's difficult. You know, you always have this image of the perfect thing which you can never achieve, but which you never stop trying to achieve. But I think ... that's your signpost and your guide. You'll never get there, but without it you won't get anywhere. [ Interview with Oprah Winfrey , June 5, 2007]

A creation perfectly evolved to meet its own end.

It's like a lot of things, said the smith. Do the least part of it wrong and ye'd just as well to do it all wrong.

Utopia is impossible; everyone who isn't a utopian is a shmuck.

Everyone failed to live up to their own ideals. She wanted to fall short of the best ideals.

When I forget to do the dishes, that's because no one's perfect. When you forget to do the dishes, it's because you're a selfish asshole.

He knew it was perfect, and perfectly beautiful. He thought about how much she would like it. When he thought like that, happiness swelled up warm within him.

And what's romance? Usually, a nice little tale where you have everything as you like it, where rain never wets your jacket and gnats never bite your nose, and it's always daisy-time.

We already know enough to lead perfect lives.

Soap shining beauty.

To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle.

I accept Time absolutely. It alone is without flaw, It alone rounds and completes all, That mystic baffling wonder.

And I will show that there is no imperfection in the present, and can be none in the future, And I will show that whatever happens to anybody it may be turn'd to beautiful results, And I will show that nothing can happen more beautiful than death, And I will thread a thread through my poems that time and events are compact, And that all the things of the universe are perfect miracles, each as profound as any.