An eye-opening collection of perfectionism quotes and quotes about being a perfectionist that’ll remind you that perfection doesn’t exist and will inspire you to embrace your imperfections completely.
Most of us are guilty of constantly striving and chasing perfection. We all want to be perfect. We spend so much of our time trying to look perfect, work perfectly and make a perfect life.
I was also guilty of this and if I’m being honest, sometimes I still am.
And here’s what I’ve learned from it, being a perfectionist and striving for perfection is exhausting, crippling, and paralyzing. It only made me so stressed, unhappy and sometimes it just lead to procrastinating and losing myself.
And the thing is, regardless of how hard we try to achieve perfectionism, perfection is simply impossible.
If we continue to allow ourselves to believe that the goal is to be perfect, we are only keeping ourselves from unlocking our fullest potential, from enjoying every moment of our lives and from being genuinely happy.
May these perfectionism quotes below inspire you to let go of trying to be perfect, stop chasing perfection, and learn to embrace and love your imperfections wholeheartedly.
Perfectionism Quotes and Sayings
There is nothing perfect, no one can be perfect, and perfectionism is something you shouldn’t chase.
— Shawn Crahan
Healthy striving is self-focused: “How can I improve?” Perfectionism is other-focused: “What will they think?
— Brené Brown
In order to go on living one must try to escape the death involved in perfectionism.
— Hannah Arendt
There is no perfection, only beautiful versions of brokenness.
— Shannon L. Alder
Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough – that we should try again.
— Julia Cameron
Too many people spend too much time trying to perfect something before they actually do it. Instead of waiting for perfection, run with what you go, and fix it along the way…
— Paul Arden
Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be our best. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth; it’s a shield.
— Brene Brown
At its root, perfectionism isn’t really about a deep love of being meticulous. It’s about fear. Fear of making a mistake. Fear of disappointing others. Fear of failure. Fear of success.
— Michael Law
Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor.
— Anne Lamott
If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.
— Ecclesiastes 11:4
Perfectionism rarely begets perfection, or satisfaction – only disappointment.
— Ryan Holiday
Perfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order.
— Anne Wilson Schaef
Perfectionism kills art. I find that if I criticise myself, it spoils the fun. You can get paralysed by analysis – it takes all the playfulness away.
— Geri Halliwell
But I am learning that perfection isn’t what matters. In fact, it’s the very thing that can destroy you if you let it.
— Emily Giffin
Perfectionism quotes that will help you accept and love your imperfections
There is nothing more rare, nor more beautiful, than a woman being unapologetically herself; comfortable in her perfect imperfection. To me, that is the true essence of beauty.
— Steve Maraboli
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
Life isn’t meant to be lived perfectly…but merely to be LIVED. Boldly, wildly, beautifully, uncertainly, imperfectly, magically LIVED.
— Mandy Hale
I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for. Perfection is God’s business.
— Michael J. Fox
Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together.
— Brené Brown
I don’t have to be perfect. All I have to do is show up and enjoy the messy, imperfect, and beautiful journey of my life.
— Kerry Washington
The more I feel imperfect, the more I feel alive.
— Jhumpa Lahiri
There is no real beauty without some slight imperfection.
— James Salter
Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.
— Salvador Dali
There is a kind of beauty in imperfection.
— Conrad Hall
One of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection simply doesn’t exist…..Without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist
— Stephen Hawking
You were born to be real, not to be perfect. You are here to be you, not to live someone else’s life.
— Ralph Marston
Life is not always perfect. Like a road, it has many bends, ups and down, but that’s its beauty.
— Amit Ray
However, don’t let perfectionism become an excuse for never getting started.
— Marilu Henner
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Perfectionism quotes that’ll inspire you to stop chasing perfection
There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.
— Leonard Cohen
Good enough is good enough. Perfect will make you a big fat mess every time.
— Rebecca Wells
Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing perfectly.
— Robert H. Schuller
On this sacred path of Radical Acceptance, rather than striving for perfection, we discover how to love ourselves into wholeness.
— Tara Brach
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.
— Brené Brown
The desire for perfection often leads to the awakening of the Procrasdemon. Allowing yourself to make mistakes is the single most effective way to get rid of it.
— Neeraj Agnihotri
The pursuit of perfection often impedes improvement.
— George Will
Perfectionism sucks the air out of your uniqueness and leaves you empty, away from who you could become.
— Darryl Stewart Wellness
Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self- solitude is the enemy of well- being.
— John Updike
Embrace being perfectly imperfect. Learn from your mistakes and forgive yourself, you’ll be happier.
— Roy Bennett
Perfectionism spells paralysis.
A pursuit for perfection is the most leading cause of procrastination in artists.
— Neeraj Agnihotri
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.
— Confucius
Perhaps we’ll never know how far the path can go, how much a human being can truly achieve, until we realize that the ultimate reward is not a gold medal but the path itself.
— George Leonard
Perfection is a myth quotes
You are magnificent beyond measure, perfect in your imperfections, and wonderfully made.
— Abiola Abrams
Gold cannot be pure, and people cannot be perfect.
— Chinese Proverb
Imperfection is the new perfection.
— Hina Khan
Nothing and no one is perfect. It just takes a good eye to find those hidden imperfections.
— Daphne Delacroix
The fact of storytelling hints at a fundamental human unease, hints at human imperfection. Where there is perfection there is no story to tell.
— Ben Okri
You look at the scratch and completely miss the diamond.
— Raphie Frank
Persuade thyself that imperfection and inconvenience are the natural lot of mortals, and there will be no room for discontent, neither for despair.
— Tokugawa Ieyasu
Sometimes we strive so hard for perfection that we forget that imperfection is happiness.
— Karen Nave
I realized we’re all perfectly imperfect, which was a big thing. Perfectionism, to me, was an important thing.
— Stephanie Winston Wolkoff
To be perfect is to develop expanding imperfection.
— Ethylios
I think every single imperfection adds to your beauty. I’d rather be imperfect than perfect.
— Sonam Kapoor
I cling to my imperfection, as the very essence of my being.
— Anatole France
I think that’s the most beautiful thing about being confident – just loving yourself, not caring what everybody else thinks. Because you could be Mother Theresa, and people are still going to try to find some imperfection.
— Joanna Krupa
Imperfection clings to a person, and if they wait till they are brushed off entirely, they would spin for ever on their axis, advancing nowhere.
— Thomas Carlyle
Perfectionism quotes that’ll help you overcome perfectionism
Until you realize perfection is an ideal and not a reality, you will never have self-confidence.
— J.S. Felts
The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.
— Anna Quindlen
An artist obsessed with perfection is bound to dim the light of his art.
— Michael Bassey Johnson
When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are.
— Donald Miller
People often miss out on their own human genius because they’re trying to be more perfect than the gods.
— Curtis Tyrone Jones
Perfection is a trifle dull. It is not the least of life’s ironies that this, which we all aim at, is better not quite achieved.
— W. Somerset Maugham
Imperfection facilitates improvement, perfection facilitates stagnation.
— Abhijit Naskar
Out of perfection, nothing can be made. Every process involves breaking something up.
— Joseph Campbell
Don’t aim for perfection. Aim for ‘better than yesterday’.
— Izey Victoria Odiase
Finality is death. Perfection is finality. Nothing is perfect. There are lumps in it.
— James Stephens.
You’d be perfect if you weren’t a perfectionist.
— Frank Sonnenberg
It is reasonable to have perfection in our eye that we may always advance toward it, though we know it can never be reached.
— Samuel Johnson
Only a fool pursues perfection, the wise pursues self-correction.
— Abhijit Naskar
True love does not come by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.
— Jason Jordan