Perfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order.
Ann Wilson Schaef Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
Categories: perfectionism self-esteem

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life...
Anne Lamott Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Categories: perfectionism expectations

A man would do nothing, if he waited until he could do it so well that no one would find fault with what he has done.
J. H. Newman The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations
Categories: perfectionism fear failure

We do not live an equal life, but one of contrasts and patchwork; now a little joy, then a sorrow, now a sin, then a generous or brave action.
Ralph Waldo Emerson The Book of Positive Quotations
Categories: life difficulties perfectionism

Perfectionism. This is the desire to
Dr. Arthur Freeman and Rose Dewolf The 10 Dumbest Mistakes Smart People Make and How to Avoid : Simple and Sure Techniques for Gaining Greater Control of Your Life
Categories: perfectionism procrastination failure

A fallible being will fail somewhere.
Samuel Johnson Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
Categories: failure mistakes perfectionism

Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.
Henry David Thoreau Walden
Categories: success perfectionism self-esteem

To be human is to be fallible.
Dr. Arthur Freeman The 10 Dumbest Mistakes Smart People Make and How to Avoid Them
Categories: perfectionism mistakes failure

The maxim "Nothing but perfection" may be spelled "Paralysis."
Winston Churchill The Book of Positive Quotations
Categories: perfectionism reality action expectations

There seems to be something in the human soul that causes us to think less of ourselves every time we do something wrong... And maybe it is good for us to feel that way. It may make us more sensitive to what we do wrong and move us to repent and grow. But it may also lead to our setting unrealistically high standards for ourselves and for others.
Harold S. Kushner How Good Do We Have to Be? : A New Understanding of Guilt and Forgiveness
Categories: perfectionism mistakes errors forgiveness

Be gentle with yourself.
Sarah Ban Breathnach Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
Categories: growth self-improvement self-esteem perfectionism

...being judgmental about your own behavior is actually another cop-out because it makes you feel as though you're doing something virtuous.
Barbara Sher I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was
Categories: perfectionism behavior self-defeating attitude

Perfection leaves so little room for improvement. So little space for acceptance -- or joy. On the path we have chosen, progress is the simple pleasure to be savored.
Sarah Ban Breathnach Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
Categories: perfectionism self-improvement happiness growth

You don't need to become perfect all at once.
Thomas E. Clarke, S.J. "Fear and Anger on Our Side," Weavings, May/June 1997.
Categories: perfectionism self-improvement growth acceptance

A pint can't hold a quart--if it holds a pint it is doing all that can be expected of it.
Margaretta W. Deland Treasury of Women's Quotations
Categories: expectations realism acceptance perfectionism

All censure of a man's self if oblique praise. It is in order to show how much he can spare.
Samuel Johnson The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Categories: perfectionism complaint conceit character

We have the need to be accepted and to be loved by
Don Miguel Ruiz The Four Agreement : A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom a Toltec Wisdom Book
Categories: perfectionism self-love self-nurture self-abuse judgementalism

How many crimes committed merely because their authors could not endure being wrong!
Albert Camus The Penguin Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Quotations
Categories: pride vanity perfectionism ego mistakes failure

Basing our happiness on our ability to control everything is futile.
Stephen Covey First Things First: To Live, to Love, to Learn, to Leave a Legacy
Categories: control issues unhappiness perfectionism acceptance

We tell ourselves so many lies and half-truths...We listen and are duly impressed by these inner voices that turn into unseen judges that nag at us. We give each of these judges a seat of honor in our minds, all the while hating their guts and their never-ending supply of judgements...We give the judges permission to accompany us on each journey of life, never daring to realize that we can park them, at least momentarily.
Eloise Ristad A Soprano on Her Head
Categories: inner critics judgementalism perfectionism fear procrastination

There are no perfect human beings! My personal judgments are that no perfect human being is possible or even conceivable, but that human beings are far more improvable than most people believe.
Abraham Maslow Thoughts on Leadership: A Treasury of Quotations
Categories: perfectionism expectations self-improvement growth change

Drop the idea that you are Atlas carrying the world on your shoulders. The world would go on even without you. Don't take yourself so seriously.
Norman Vincent Peale Positive Thinking Every Day
Categories: stress perfectionism humor relax burden

...the perfect is the enemy of the good. If we fall short, there is no reason to despair, only more reason to try harder.
William Bennett Our Sacred Honor
Categories: perfectionism perfectionistic try work effort success

We set up harsh and unkind rules against ourselves. No one is born without faults.
Horace The Book of Positive Quotations
Categories: self-nurture patience change growth perfectionism

Good enough never is.
Debbi Fields Bits & Pieces magazine
Categories: success achievement character perfectionism high standards

Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.
Harriet Braiker Treasury of Women's Quotations
Categories: perfectionism motivation motivating excellence goals judgementalism

Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself. I mean, do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage. How are we to be patient in dealing with our neighbor's faults if we are impatient in dealing with our own? He who is fretted by his own failings will not correct them. All profitable correction comes from a calm, peaceful mind.
St. Francis de Sales Living in Balance: A Dynamic Approach for Creating Harmony & Wholeness in a Chaotic World
Categories: patience self-improvement perfectionism relationships personal growth

Success, in my view, is the willingness to strive for something you really want. The person not reaching the top is no less a success than the one who achieved it, if they both sweated blood, sweat and tears and overcame obstacles and fears. The failure to be perfect does not mean you're not a success.
Fran Tarkenton Like Klockwork: The Whimsy, Wit, and (sometime) Wisdom of a Key Largo Curmudgeon
Categories: perfectionism success willingness action obstacles fear failure

You don't have to do everything and be everything for everyone else all time. If you think you can't possibly do one more thing without screaming or crying, you're probably right.
Sarah Ban Breathnach Simple Abundance
Categories: stress anxiety perfectionism supermom self-nurture balance priorities

How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.
Publilius Syrus The Book of Positive Quotations
Categories: forgiveness depression sadness unhappiness perfectionism expectation mercy grace

It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.
Antoine De Saint-Exupery The Little Prince
Categories: self-awareness self-knowledge criticism critics judgementalism perfectionism perfectionist self-improvement growth

It is foolish to postpone enjoyment of your ordinary life until you are more successful, more secure, or more loved than you are today.
Timothy Ray Miller How to Want What You Have
Categories: joy happiness perfectionism routine present life success security love foolishness wisdom

Only the strongest egos escape the trap of perfectionism. To solve problems successfully, you must believe you can, must feel capable enough to improvise. Yet too many adults have been schooled away from their ability to experiment freely.
Marsha Sinetar To Build the Life You Want, Create the Work You Love: The Spiritual Dimension of Entrepreneuring
Categories: ego perfectionism acceptance self-confidence self-esteem abilities talents skills trust yourself growth learning by doing education

Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation?
Jane Austen Treasury of Women's Quotations
Categories: planning vision action goal success preparation delay procrastination fear afraid perfectionism joy happiness

...start thinking of yourself as an artist and your life as a work-in-progress. Works-in-progress are never perfect. But changes can be made...Art evolves. So does life. Art is never stagnant. Neither is life. The beautiful, authentic life you are creating for yourself is your art. It's the highest art.
Sarah Ban Breathnach Simple Abundance
Categories: life living risk stretching daring courage strength perfectionism mistakes creativity authenticity fulfillment meaning purpose balance

The journey of spiritual growth is a long one.
M. Scott Peck The Road Less Traveled
Categories: life growth change spirituality perfectionism self-improvement patience life-long learning

A quarter of an inch of new snow last night, putting down a thin dusting in the woods: the dark brown points of fallen leaves curl up through the snow, making a speckled, polka-dotted forest floor. It is almost dizzying, and beautiful. If I saw it on film, my immediate thought would be, "Too bad they didn't get more snow." In a photograph I wouldn't see the whole woods for what they are, I would be trying to correct them, improve them. It is a habit I would like to break.
John Jerome The Writing Trade: A Year in a Life
Categories: appearance vanity perfectionism inner beauty spiritual beauty