97 Inspiring Perfection Quotes

In a world that often celebrates imperfection, the pursuit of perfection remains a fascinating and complex endeavor. Whether in our personal lives, professional careers, or creative endeavors, the desire to achieve a state of flawlessness continues to inspire and motivate individuals across the globe. This collection of 97 perfection quotes captures the essence of this ambition, offering varied perspectives from influential thinkers, artists, and leaders who have grappled with the concept of perfection in their own unique ways. As you delve into these quotes, you'll uncover words of wisdom that challenge conventional notions, celebrate the journey over the destination, and remind us that while perfection might be unattainable, striving for excellence is an art worth mastering. Join us as we explore the diverse insights and inspirations behind one of humanity's most enduring pursuits.

1. “Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.” - Salvador Dali

2. “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

3. “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

4. “When it can be said by any country in the world, my poor are happy, neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them, my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars, the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive, the rational world is my friend because I am the friend of happiness. When these things can be said, then may that country boast its constitution and government. Independence is my happiness, the world is my country and my religion is to do good.” - Thomas Paine

5. “When all the details fit in perfectly, something is probably wrong with the story.” - Charles Baxter

6. “If you look for perfection, you'll never be content.” - Leo Tolstoy

7. “Sometimes I think evil is a tangible thing - with wave lengths, just as sound and light have.” - Richard Connell

8. “If I can do things right, I don't see why everyone else can't.” - Courtney Summers

9. “People are good or half good or a quarter good, and it changes all the time- but even on the best day nobody's perfect.” - colum mccann

10. “It took a lot of work to be perfect. If you didn’t want to break a sweat, there was no point in even bothering.” - Sarah Dessen

11. “If people reach perfection they vanish, you know.” - T.H. White

12. “[F]or just one second, look at your life and see how perfect it is. Stop looking for the next secret door that is going to lead you to your real life. Stop waiting. This is it: there's nothing else. It's here, and you'd better decide to enjoy it or you're going to be miserable wherever you go, for the rest of your life, forever.” - Lev Grossman

13. “... one flaw throws the loveliness of [everything else] into focus. I remember reading that Shakers deliberately introduced a mistake into the things they made, to show that man shouldn't aspire to the perfection of God. Flawed can be more perfect than perfection.” - Gretchen Rubin

14. “The maxim, "Nothing prevails but perfection," may be spelled PARALYSIS.” - Winston S. Churchill

15. “Nobody's perfect. We're all just one step up from the beasts and one step down from the angels.” - Jeannette Walls

16. “Perfectly ImperfectWe have all heard that no two snowflakes are alike. Each snowflake takes the perfect form for the maximum efficiency and effectiveness for its journey. And while the universal force of gravity gives them a shared destination, the expansive space in the air gives each snowflake the opportunity to take their own path. They are on the same journey, but each takes a different path.Along this gravity-driven journey, some snowflakes collide and damage each other, some collide and join together, some are influenced by wind... there are so many transitions and changes that take place along the journey of the snowflake. But, no matter what the transition, the snowflake always finds itself perfectly shaped for its journey. I find parallels in nature to be a beautiful reflection of grand orchestration. One of these parallels is of snowflakes and us. We, too, are all headed in the same direction. We are being driven by a universal force to the same destination. We are all individuals taking different journeys and along our journey, we sometimes bump into each other, we cross paths, we become altered... we take different physical forms. But at all times we too are 100% perfectly imperfect. At every given moment we are absolutely perfect for what is required for our journey. I’m not perfect for your journey and you’re not perfect for my journey, but I’m perfect for my journey and you’re perfect for your journey. We’re heading to the same place, we’re taking different routes, but we’re both exactly perfect the way we are. Think of what understanding this great orchestration could mean for relationships. Imagine interacting with others knowing that they too each share this parallel with the snowflake. Like you, they are headed to the same place and no matter what they may appear like to you, they have taken the perfect form for their journey. How strong our relationships would be if we could see and respect that we are all perfectly imperfect for our journey.” - Steve Maraboli

17. “Perfection is not a destination; it's a never-ending process...Enjoy!” - Jim Bouchard

18. “There must be something wrong with those people who think Audrey Hepburn doesn’t perspire, hiccup or sneeze, because they know that’s not true. I n fact, I hiccup more than most.” - Audrey Hepburn

19. “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.” - David D. Burns

20. “We all are men, in our own natures frail, and capable of our flesh; few are angels.” - William Shakespeare

21. “Perfection is a stick with which to beat the possible.” - Rebecca Solnit

22. “The eye always fills in the imperfections.” - Rabih Alameddine

23. “Where utility ends and decoration begins is perfection.” - Jack Gardner

24. “if you gone come in second, you're just the first loser!” - Tiger Woods

25. “Normal is over rated, and so is spelling.You want perfection? Go out and buy a spell check, but know this: Spellcheck won't keep you warm at night or love you unconditionaly. I will stick to being abnormal and a bad speller. Makes life more interesting. After all, what fun is there in being normal or perfect?” - Cristina Marrero

26. “My life is music, and in some vague, mysterious and subconscious way, I have always been driven by a taut inner spring which has propelled me to almost compulsively reach for perfection in music, often - in fact, mostly - at the expense of everything else in my life.” - Stan Getz

27. “Happiness consists in always aspiring perfection, the pause in any level in perfection is the pause of happiness” - Leon Tolstoy

28. “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

29. “We have all been expelled from the Garden, but the ones who suffer most in exile are those who are still permitted to dream of perfection.” - Stanley Kunitz

30. “Absolute perfection is here and now, not in some future, near or far.The secret is in action - here and now.It is your behavior that blinds you to yourself.Disregard whatever you think yourself to be and act as if you were absolutely perfect- whatever your idea of perfection may be.All you need is courage.” - Nisargadatta Maharaj

31. “A perfectly normal person is rare in our civilization.” - Karen Horney

32. “When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are.” - Donald Miller

33. “Perfectionism means that you try not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived.” - Anne Lamott

34. “God always ignores the present perfection for the ultimate perfection.” - Oswald Chambers

35. “Can we get back to work now?" Haley asked, sounding innocent, but Zoe didn't miss the woman's lips twitchingor the humor sparkling in her eyes. Something told her that this woman truly enjoyed torturing her husband."For god sake's, my little grasshopper, you love the Yankees more than I do! What the hell is going on?" He turned accusing eyes on Zoe. "How dare you brainwash my wife?" he hissed."A re you going to leave so that we can get some work done?" Haley demanded, turning her attention to the computer."No," he said stubbornly, folding his arms over his chest, glaring at them."Buttercream frosting," Haley said softly, never taking her eyes away from her computer screen.Jason licked his lips as he looked his pregnant wife over hungrily. "Tonight?" he croaked out."If you're good," Haley said, with a small shrug. "But you have to leave-""Bye," Jason said quickly, cutting her off and rushing out of the trailer just as fast as he came.” - R.L. Mathewson

36. “You missed breakfast," Jason announced as Trevor stepped into the large busy kitchen filled with Bradfords and food."That's fine. I'm not really hungry," he said, barely aware or caring that all activity in the busy kitchen suddenly stopped as every Bradford in the room, even one year old Cole stopped trying to climb onto the counter to get at the large platter of cookies his mother made to stare at him in disbelief.” - R.L. Mathewson

37. “It is failure that guides evolution; perfection provides no incentive for improvement, and nothing is perfect.” - COLSON WHITEHEAD

38. “HOW do you define a word without concrete meaning? To each his own, the saying goes, soWHYpush to attain an ideal state of being that no two random people will agree isWHERE you want to be? Faultless. Finished. Incomparable. People can never be these, and anyway,WHENdid creating a flawless facade become a more vital goal than learning to love the personWHOlives inside your skin? The outside belongs to others. Only you should decide for you -WHATis perfect.” - Ellen Hopkins

39. “The only problem with her is that she is too perfect. She is bad in a way that entices, and good in a way that comforts. She is mischief but then she is the warmth of home. The dreams of the wild and dangerous but the memories of childhood and gladness. She is perfection. And when given something perfect, it is the nature of man to dedicate his mind to finding something wrong with it and then when he is able to find something wrong with it, he rejoices in his find, and sees only the flaw, becoming blind to everything else! And this is why man is never given anything that is perfect, because when given the imperfect and the ugly, man will dedicate his mind to finding what is good with the imperfect and upon finding one thing good with the extremely flawed, he will only see the one thing good, and no longer see everything that is ugly. And so....man complains to God for having less than what he wants... but this is the only thing that man can handle. Man cannot handle what is perfect. It is the nature of the mortal to rejoice over the one thing that he can proudly say that he found on his own, with no help from another, whether it be a shadow in a perfect diamond, or a faint beautiful reflection in an extremely dull mirror.” - C. JoyBell C.

40. “There are moments on stage when everything comes together. Then the kid in the front row coughs.” - Connie Brockway

41. “Persistence. Perfection. Patience. Power. Prioritize your passion. It keeps you sane.” - Criss Jami

42. “Вот он, первородный грех: лучше! еще лучше! Пытаясь улучшить, мы начинаем понимать. Понимая, мы начинаем дробить целое на части. Раздробив, удивляемся: почему такие прекрасные, идеальные, замечательные части не хотят жить? Почему целое умерло? Почему рухнул несокрушимый снаружи Столп? - стремление к лучшему опрокинуло его изнутри.” - Генри Лайон Олди

43. “There is truth, my boy. But the doctrine you desire, absolute, perfect dogma that alone provides wisdom, does not exist. Nor should you long for a perfect doctrine, my friend. Rather, you should long for the perfection of yourself. The deity is within you, not in ideas and books. Truth is lived, not taught.” - Hermann Hesse

44. “Love doesn't demand perfection, but it does ask you to give yourself with less reserve than you'd prefer.” - Thomas Moore

45. “There is no such thing as an infallible doctor.” - Edward E. Rosenbaum

46. “Nothing and no one is perfect. It just takes a good eye to find those hidden imperfections.” - Daphne Delacroix

47. “yearning n. and adj.At te core of this desire is the belief that everything can be perfect.” - David Levithan

48. “There were profound reasons for his attachment to the sea: he loved it because as a hardworking artist he needed rest, needed to escape from the demanding complexity of phenomena and lie hidden on the bosom of the simple and tremendous; because of a forbidden longing deep within him that ran quite contrary to his life's task and was for that very reason seductive, a longing for the unarticulated and immeasurable, for eternity, for nothingness. To rest in the arms of perfection is the desire of any man intent upon creating excellence; and is not nothingness a form of perfection?” - Thomas Mann

49. “Everything made by human hands looks terrible under magnification--crude, rough, and asymmetrical. But in nature every bit of life is lovely. And the more magnification we use, the more details are brought out, perfectly formed, like endless sets of boxes within boxes.” - Roman Vishniac

50. “For everything in this journey of life we are on, there is a right wing and a left wing: for the wing of love there is anger; for the wing of destiny there is fear; for the wing of pain there is healing; for the wing of hurt there is forgiveness; for the wing of pride there is humility; for the wing of giving there is taking; for the wing of tears there is joy; for the wing of rejection there is acceptance; for the wing of judgment there is grace; for the wing of honor there is shame; for the wing of letting go there is the wing of keeping. We can only fly with two wings and two wings can only stay in the air if there is a balance. Two beautiful wings is perfection. There is a generation of people who idealize perfection as the existence of only one of these wings every time. But I see that a bird with one wing is imperfect. An angel with one wing is imperfect. A butterfly with one wing is dead. So this generation of people strive to always cut off the other wing in the hopes of embodying their ideal of perfection, and in doing so, have created a crippled race.” - C. JoyBell C.

51. “Nothing in life has any business being perfect.” - James Goldman

52. “I understand it was Derian who spoiled everything. He purposefully tainted your view of me and forced you to go along with him. I know none of what happened was your idea or your desire, Eena.”She didn’t get up, but spoke from her curled position. Her voice was weak, still heavy with despair. “Derian didn’t force me to do anything.”“But if he hadn’t influenced you, we would be enjoying a pleasant dinner again, telling stories and laughing. I’m sure that would be the case. You would be happy……and so would I.”Eena chuckled without amusement.“You have to admit we shared some very enjoyable evenings, didn’t we? There’s really no reason we can’t put this whole mess behind us and start from where we left off.” He sounded genuinely serious.“You forget,” she reminded him, “I heard your conversation with the Ghengats. This isn’t about Derian, it’s about you.”“Alright,” he admitted with an acquiescent sigh, “so I’m not everything you’d hoped for. But really, what man can ever live up to any woman’s terribly high expectations?”This got her attention. She almost stood up to face him, but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Leaning forward, she retorted, “Expecting a man to respect you, to be honest with you, and, oh yes, to not be a shameless murderer—I don’t think those are overly high expectations!”He shrugged, casually excusing his faults. “Nobody’s perfect.”“What do you want?” she finally asked, exasperated.He squatted to her level and stated his desire. “I want you.”Eena thought the expression on his face—the look in his weary blue eyes—appeared strangely sincere. But there was one thing she had learned from all this: never trust a master of deceit.” - Richelle E. Goodrich

53. “The perfect being, huh? There is no such thing as perfect in this world. That may sound cliché, but it’s the truth. The average person admires perfection and seeks to obtain it. But, what’s the point of achieving perfection? There is none. Nothing. Not a single thing. I loathe perfection! If something is perfect, then there is nothing left. There is no room for imagination. No place left for a person to gain additional knowledge or abilities. Do you know what that means? For scientists such as ourselves, perfection only brings despair. It is our job to create things more wonderful than anything before them, but never to obtain perfection. A scientist must be a person who finds ecstasy while suffering from that antimony. In short, the moment that foolishness left your mouth and reached my ears, you had already lost. Of course, that’s assuming you are a scientist” - Tite Kubo

54. “I dare you to say I’m not ugly.” - Angela Morrison

55. “allowing only ordinary ability and opportunity, we may explain success mainly by one word and that word is WORK! WORK!! WORK!!! WORK!!!! Not transient and fitful effort, but patient, enduring, honest, unremitting and indefatigable work into which the whole heart is put[...]There is no royal road to perfection.” - Frederick Douglass

56. “Wir lernen aus unserer eigenen Geschichte, wozu der Mensch fähig ist. Deshalb dürfen wir uns nicht einbilden, wir seien nun als Menschen anders und besser geworden. Es gibt keine endgültig errungene moralische Vollkommenheit - für niemanden und kein Land! Wir haben als Menschen gelernt, wir bleiben als Menschen gefährdet. Aber wir haben die Kraft, Gefährdungen immer von neuem zu überwinden."[Ansprache am 8. Mai 1985 in der Gedenkstunde im Plenarsaal des Deutschen Bundestages]” - Richard von Weizsäcker

57. “Why would anyone want perfection when growth comes from flaws?” - Shannon L. Alder

58. “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.” - Oscar Wilde

59. “A perfect character might be attended with the inconvenience of being envied and hated; and that a benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in countenance.” - Benjamin Franklin

60. “...I deliberately spilled the black ink of despair because my perfect soul was a stained glass illusion - can you understand that?...” - John Geddes

61. “Evangelicals sometimes expect too much or, to put it more precisely, we look for a kind of change God hasn't promised. It's possible to expect too little, but under-expectation is usually a cynical reaction to dashed hopes for too much. We manage to interpret biblical teaching to support our longing for perfection. As a result, we measure our progress by standards we will never meet until heaven.” - Larry Crabb

62. “The only skill that cannot be perfected is perfection itself.” - Daphne Delacroix

63. “Because there is a word for perfection, people will always imagine that they know it.” - Idries Shah

64. “I’m not perfect. And I don’t have to be. I can figure it out as I go, and as long as I do the best I can, it’s okay if I still screw up.” - Melissa Darnell

65. “Don't worry about getting perfect, just keep getting better.” - Frank Peretti

66. “I often ask myself, 'Who would Jesus vote for?' Then I start to think that he wouldn't vote at all; however, it would not be out of apathy or disinterest, but out of perfection and light. As a miracle worker, I think he would, by the power of God's teachings, the perseverance and the truth, influence in a modern sense whoever is put into office how to best serve his fellow men. One, like his skeptics, may find that impractical. But there is a message in that no man in power can slow the momentum of the will of God, and the miracles of his teachings will be forever victorious.” - Criss Jami

67. “You can't make the world perfect, Daniel," Michelle said calmly while dusting dirt off her jeans with her delicate hand. "No. I can't," I agreed. "But I can sure help make it better.” - Shannon A Thompson

68. “Whether you teach or live in the cloister or nurse the sick, whether you are in religion or out of it, married or single, no matter who you are or what you are, you are called to the summit of perfection: you are called to a deep interior life perhaps even to mystical prayer, and to pass the fruits of your contemplation on to others. And if you cannot do so by word, then by example.Yet if this sublime fire of infused love burns in your soul, it will inevitably send forth throughout the Church and the world an influence more tremendous than could be estimated by the radius reached by words or by example.” - Thomas Merton

69. “We are beautiful because we are sons and daughters of God, not because we look a certain way.” - Kate Wicker

70. “If I invite God into my life, I am and always will be good enough.” - Kate Wicker

71. “And I find perfect beauty excessively boring, don't you?” - Gail Carriger

72. “Every time I think about that girl, my mind commits a sin.” - Jake Vander Ark

73. “Perfection seems sterile; it is final, no mystery in it; it's a product of an assembly line.” - Dejan Stojanovic

74. “To accomplish the perfect perfection, a little imperfection helps.” - Dejan Stojanovic

75. “There is something perfect to be found in the imperfect: the law keeps balance through the juxtaposition of beauty, which gains perfection through nurtured imperfection.” - Dejan Stojanovic

76. “When there is noise and crowds, there is trouble; When everything is silent and perfect, There is just perfection and nothing To fill the air.” - Dejan Stojanovic

77. “In this temporal existence, perfection is an illusion, regardless of those who believe in its concept. Perfection is devoid of any value. Perfection, after all, implies you've reached the zenith. There is no possibility or potentiality. There is no room for imagination. There is no ability to visualize a concept. Perfection is limited by its own nature, which in short, is zero.” - Lionel Suggs

78. “...But living creatures are idiosyncratic. They are created in such a way that they can actualize only what their microscopic minds wish for. The concept of limitless is bound heavily by the minor actualization of what perfection is...” - Lionel Suggs

79. “One aspect of perfection, after all, it stands to reason, will be that our need for imperfection will cease. Or, perhaps more precisely: that imperfection itself will cease to have meaning.” - Ron Currie Jr.

80. “You had to break, to be unbroken. In the brokenness, I had found, that which was unbroken. That which was perfect, and beautiful, and complete.” - T. Scott McLeod

81. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love is the perfection of it".'Perfection” - Steve Copland

82. “When did creating a flawless facade become a more vital goal than learning to love the person who lives inside your skin?” - Ellen Hopkins

83. “Djuna had wanted a life of desire and freedom, not luxury but beauty, not security but fulfillment, not perfection but a perfect moment like this one...” - Anais Nin

84. “...when you're broken, everything gets a little honester - you make mistakes and don't give a damn - you give up on perfection, but get real...” - John Geddes A Familiar Rain

85. “It's hard to do," I said. Wes looked at me. "What is?" I swallowed, not sure why I'd said this out loud. "Get it right.” - Sarah Dessen

86. “I'd been through so much, falling short again and again, and only recently had found a place where who I was, right now, was enough.” - Sarah Dessen

87. “If it looks a bit rough, a little worn, with little splotches - those have the swetest flavor. The ones that are perfect on the outside tend to be a bit more bland. That is true about many things in life.” - Jeff Wheeler

88. “Sin is man's, last attempt to perfection.” - Anthony Liccione

89. “There is perfect love in Heaven!” - Anne Brontë

90. “Everyone has their own varying means of measuring thing. Sometimes people can agree on something, but other times they can't.” - ichtys

91. “This boy was so far out of my league it was embarrassing. I found myself staring at him, trying to find some minute flaw that might justify dragging him back to my level. Finding nothing, I decided that having a dimple on only one cheek was practically a deformity.” - G.J. Walker-Smith

92. “Utopia never really is. And the perfection we seek will always disappoint.” - Daniel Xiao Wang

93. “I'm not perfect but I'll be the creator of perfection.” - Colin Powell

94. “Sometimes I still feel that there are two of me: one clean, flawless picture, the other imperfect and cracked; one boy, one girl; one voice that speaks aloud and one that whispers in my ear; one publicly known to have been troubled but be on the mend, the other who has privately lost something to do with innocence and gained something to do with knowledge and adulthood that can never be undone. I feel sometimes there are things that tear me in two directions, that there are two sets of thoughts that grow side by side. But then I realize that I am whole, whatever that means and does not mean; I am complete without the need for additions or alteration.” - Abigail Tarttelin

95. “Don't be so hard on yourself, don't put pressure on yourself, life is just a chain of experiments and results, and you'll be perfect when you're dead.” - Dan Harmon

96. “Perfection is real. It occurs when you find that other part of you, that other person, that when combined you become one, perfect being.” - Shannan Jacoby

97. “Alexander moved her off him, laid her down, was over her, was pressed into her, crushing her. Anthony was right there, he didn't care, he was trying to inhale her, trying to absorb her into himself. "All this time you were stepping out in front of me, Tatiana," he said. "Now I finally understand. You hid me on Bethel Island for eight months. For two years you hid me and deceived me - to save me. I am such an idiot," he whispered. "Wretch or not, ravaged or not, in a carapace or not, there you still were, stepping out for me, showing the mute mangled stranger your brave and indifferent face."Her eyes closed, her arms tightened around his neck. "That stranger is my life," she whispered. They crawled away from Anthony, from their only bed, onto a blanket on the floor, barricading themselves behind the table and chairs. "You left our boy to go find me, and this is what you found..." Alexander whispered, on top of her, pushing inside her, searching for peace.Crying out underneath him, Tatiana clutched his shoulders."This is what you brought back from Sachsenhausen." his movement was tense, deep, needful. Oh God. Now there was comfort. "You thought you were bringing back him, but Tania, you brought back me.""Shura...you'll have to do..." Her fingers were clamped into his scars."In you," said Alexander, lowering his lips to her parted mouth and cleaving their flesh, "are the answers to all things."All the rivers flowed into the sea and still the sea was not full.” - Paullina Simons