Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal

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Tatarkiewicz, "Moral Perfection", Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), pp. 118–19. a b c d Tatarkiewicz, "Aesthetic Perfection," Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 150. Thomas Curran is the world's leading expert on perfectionism, and he's written the definitive book on why it's rising, how it wreaks havoc on our lives, and what we can do to stop it. If you've ever found yourself fearing failure, ruminating about mistakes, or just feeling that you aren't good enough, this is a must read' Adam Grant A powerful, poignant book on the impossibly high expectations that stand in the way of happiness, health, and success. Thomas Curran is the world's leading expert on perfectionism, and he's written the definitive book on why it's rising, how it wreaks havoc on our lives, and what we can do to stop it. If you've ever found yourself fearing failure, ruminating about mistakes, or just feeling that you aren't good enough, this is a must read.' - Adam Grant

A beautiful, reflective and rigorous exploration of the causes and consequences of perfectionism. Curran doesn't shy away from analyzing either the psycho-spiritual, or the political, cultural and economic, sources of this malaise, yielding a fascinating and panoramic analysis of perfectionism in modern capitalist societies' - Grace BlakeleyI have nothing against gluten, but this book is just full of recipes I long to make' - Nigella Lawson Plato and the Stoics had made perfection a philosophical watchword. Soon it would be transformed, in Christianity, into a religious one. [13] Tatarkiewicz, "On Perfection: Conclusion," Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VIII, no. 2 (spring 1981), pp. 11–12. Another early idea — one that was to be espoused by many illustrious writers and artists of various periods — found perfection in the circle and the sphere. Aristotle wrote in the Physica that the circle was "the perfect, first, most beautiful form". Cicero wrote in De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods): "Two forms are the most distinctive: of solids, the sphere... and of plane figures, the circle... There is nothing more commensurate than these forms." [25] Delve into the messy web of perfectionism and there “are all sorts of layers and nuance,” says Curran, which “we don’t talk about enough”. Those with minority identities are far more likely to face institutional, social and cultural barriers to success – and often feel the need to overcompensate as a result. Rising parental expectations (which can be a form of other-oriented perfectionism) are another pressure linked to perfectionism in students – and again, a culture of striving is common among immigrant communities. Women are more prone to perfectionism than men and this can shape their progress in the workplace. Any environment where we feel out of place or in competition with our peers can provoke perfectionist thinking; and that environment is increasingly inescapable. Perfectionism, however soul-destroying it can be, is an attempt to get ahead in a culture that tells us that who we are is never enough. We’re told, 'You didn’t grind hard enough, or hustle hard enough'

I guess the main point here is that in life we develop an idea of what we think perfect is supposed to be like. Then life shows us that perfect doesn’t look a bit like what we thought it would, and if we’re smart we’ll see the difference. That if we grab for real-world perfection we will be rewarded with wisdom and joy.Duns Scotus understood perfection still more simply and mundanely: "Perfection is that which it is better to have than not to have." It was not an attribute of God but a property of creation: all things partook of it to a greater or lesser degree. A thing's perfection depended on what sort of perfection it was eligible for. In general, that was perfect which had attained the fullness of the qualities possible for it. Hence "whole" and "perfect" meant more or less the same (" totum et perfectum sunt quasi idem"). [39] Spinoza Tatarkiewicz, "Ontological and Theological Perfection," Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), pp. 190–91.

In a commentary to Aristotle's De coelo et mundo ( On the Heavens and Earth), the medieval Pole, Jan of Słupcza, wrote: "The most perfect body ought to have the most perfect form, and such [a body] is heaven, while the most perfect form is the round form, for nothing can be added to it." In the famous illustrated Les très riches heures du duc de Berry, paradise is depicted as contained within an ideal sphere. [25] a b Tatarkiewicz, "Perfection: the Term and the Concept," Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VI, no. 4 (autumn 1979), p. 7. For what?” he repeated, stunned. “I call you beautiful and you dare to doubt my word? For that you may get your beautiful ass out of my sight.”a b Tatarkiewicz, "Moral Perfection", Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 120 Tatarkiewicz, "Ontological and Theological Perfection," Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), pp. 189–90. A fascinating and panoramic analysis of perfectionism in modern capitalist societies' Grace Blakeley The perfect numbers early on came to be treated as the measure of other numbers: those in which the sum of the divisors is greater than the number itself, as in 12, have — since as early as Theon of Smyrna, ca. 130 A.D. — been called "redundant" ( Latin: redundantio), "more than perfect" ( plus quam perfecti), or " abundant numbers", and those the sum of whose divisors is smaller, as in 8, have been called " deficient numbers" ( deficientes). [9]