Quotes on Perfectionism

Perfectionism is a twenty-ton shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us when, in fact, it's the thing that's really preventing us from taking flight.

When you strive for perfection, you compare different versions of what could be instead of being present with what is. Perfectionism is an attempt to inhabit an imaginary world in order to avoid experiencing the world in which you live.

Ring the bells that still can ring.

Perfectionism is self destructive simply because there's no such thing as perfect. Perfection is an unattainable goal.

Perfectionism and procrastination have such a fine line. You say, 'Well, I want it to be good. I want it to be perfect.' But what you're really doing is not doing your work. You're putting off showing up and being visible because then you're going to be judged, and it might suck.

Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.

Perfectionism is a perpetual flight into an illusory future that cannot be attained.

There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in.

Many people think of perfectionism as striving to be your best, but it is not about self-improvement; it's about earning approval and acceptance.

When perfectionism is driving us, shame is riding shotgun and fear is that annoying backseat driver!

Perfection has one grave defect: it is apt to be dull.

Perfectionism is really a manifestation of the belief that one's efforts are never good enough. Imagine: How many of the obstacles standing in your way are the product of your own imagination? What have you convinced yourself that you can't do? What limitations have you come to believe in? Your mind is very powerful and effective. Is it working for you, or against you?

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.

Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly.

Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be our best. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth; it's a shield.

The way to succeed is to double your error rate.

What if you wake up some day, and you're 65... and you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life?

Perfectionism spells paralysis.

Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist's true friend.

Perfectionism and optimalism are not distinct ways of being, an either-or choice, but rather they coexist in each person. And while we can move from perfectionism toward optimalism, we never fully leave perfectionism behind and never fully reach optimalism ahead. The optimalism ideal is not a distant shore to be reached but a distant star that guides us and can never be reached. As Carl Rogers pointed out, ‘The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination

A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.