Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal

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Primitive man was held to be the most perfect, for he was closest to nature. Perfection lay behind present-day man rather than before him, for civilization distanced man from perfection instead of bringing him closer to it. [20]

Tatarkiewicz, "Aesthetic Perfection", Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), pp. 145–46. 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. a b Tatarkiewicz, "Moral Perfection", Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 120For 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.” There was also a prevalent belief that certain shapes and proportions were in themselves perfect. Plato felt that the perfect proportion was the ratio of the side to the diagonal of a square. His authority was so great that architects and other artists continued using this proportion, even when ignorant of its source, as late as the Middle Ages. [25] Cicero Otherwise, the 18th century saw great declarations championing the future perfection of man, as in Immanuel Kant's Idee zu einer allgemeinem Geschichte (1784) and Johann Gottfried von Herder's Ideen (1784/91). [21] a b c d e f Tatarkiewicz, "Perfection in the Sciences. I. Perfect Numbers", Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VII, no. 2 (spring 1980), p. 138.

Tatarkiewicz, "Moral Perfection," Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), pp. 117–18. Still, the burgeoning achievements of contemporary biology have not dislodged the age-old interest in moral perfection — with the important distinction, that the goal now is not so much perfection as improvement. A classic early-19th century exponent of this view was Fichte. [22] a b c d e f Tatarkiewicz, "Moral Perfection", Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 122. We have all heard that no two snowflakes are alike. Each snowflake takes the perfect form for the maximum efficiency and effectiveness for its journey. And while the universal force of gravity gives them a shared destination, the expansive space in the air gives each snowflake the opportunity to take their own path. They are on the same journey, but each takes a different path.The idea of human perfectibility had, however, become more comprehensive. Man would attain greater perfection, in the sense that he would live more rationally, healthily, happily, comfortably. But there was no adequate term for this new conception, as the term "perfection" had a moral coloring, while the new goal was more intellectual, physical and social. [21]

Tatarkiewicz, "Moral Perfection", Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), pp. 118–19.The hero does something awful at the beginning. Give him a chance. He deserves forgiveness. You’ll see. Tatarkiewicz, "Ontological and Theological Perfection", Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), pp. 191–92. The only gluten-free baking book you'll ever need, with delicious recipes that work perfectly every single time. From proper crusty bread, pillowy soft cinnamon rolls and glorious layered cakes to fudgy brownies, incredibly flaky rough puff pastry and delicate patisserie - everything that once seemed impossible to make gluten-free can now be baked by you. The Renaissance showed a marked concern with preeminence in perfection. Leonardo concluded that the most perfect of the arts was painting. In 1546 Benedetto Varchi compared great masters in the arts. Others compared art and science, art and nature, and perfection in the arts of the ancients with that in the modern masters. The 16th century saw comparisons of their music, the 17th — of their visual arts and especially of their poetry. These comparisons construed perfection fairly loosely; the concept was treated more strictly by architects. [27]

Personally I think her ‘rambling’ was good subterfuge. Brilliant as she undoubtedly was, had she been hyper-organized as well, she would have been altogether too much for the men of her time. Her poor-pitiful-me-look-how-poorly-I-write is probably what has allowed her writings to come to us! No doubt she would hate me writing that! Forgive me dear Sister-in-faith, but I am allowed to compliment you even if humility forbids you from claiming this for yourself. ☺ Beginning with Serlio and Palladio, perfection in art had become less important, less definite, less objective. The striving for perfection no longer had the importance for men of letters that it did for the great architects. But the 17th century still revered perfection, as shown by the appearance of that word in book titles: De perfecta poesi by the Polish poet Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski (1595–1640); Le peintre parfait (1767 by André Félibien; and Idée de la perfection de la peinture (1662) by Fréart de Chambray. [29] Tatarkiewicz, "Ontological and Theological Perfection," Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), pp. 189–90. Just once, Zoe wished that something in her life would go right, but that’s not usually how things went. At least, not for her. So, when her life suddenly takes an unexpected turn and the man who’d never looked at her twice offers to help her, she realizes that she has nothing left to lose.

an objective property ( Petrarch, who opposed perfection to other esthetic qualities such as grace);