Sunday
Mar252012
Perfectionism is the Voice of the Oppressor
Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it.
ANNE LAMOTT
Posted on 
Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 12:24AM
Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 12:24AM
Reader Comments (2)
It's so true and yet I'm still a perfectionist -- it's the limb I'd like to chop off with an ax, but I'm pretty sure it would just grow back again arg. P.S. I love these quotes I use them every day -- thank you.
I have worked with many talented people - many of them geniuses in their fields. They were all perfectionists. It was my job to coordinate their work as they contributed to multi-media projects and I related well because, alas, I too am a perfectionist. It is a terribly debilitating defect. It holds us back from completing anything because our work product can never match the vision we have in our heads. However, this is what I learned. The deadline is our friend. It forces us to relinquish what we have at that time even though it is not perfect - still, it is good enough.