Did you ever get the feeling that everything was too perfect? Like the moment was so good that something had to be wrong? Kind of like the way a fish sees that bright, shiny lure just before it chomps down and gets hauled out of water to become someone's lunch.

~ Neal Shusterman

Neal Shusterman Fish Metaphor Perfect Perfectionism Simile Suspicion Suspicious

There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well.The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and everyday confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense.

~ Jane Austen

Jane Austen Autonomy Disappointment Perfectionism Realism

Our culture is obsessed with perfection, especially when it comes to the way women look. The parameters of acceptability as far as physical appearance go are so limiting that only a handful of women actually fall into this category. And the rest of us are left to either squeeze ourselves into molds that don't fit, hating ourselves all the while, or we just give up entirely.

~ Yancy Lael

Yancy Lael Body Image Healing The Past Perfectionism Sexism Women S Inspirational

As a young wife and mother living in a pre-Pinterest world, I used to glue-gun bows and small pieces of minutia together methodically. I was an insomniac proudly penning thank you notes longer than the Declaration of Independence to every person who had even sent me a card. I was reorganizing my linen closet, ironing placemats, straight-ironing my hair, and never saying no to any person that asked me for a favor. And, I forgot to mention, I didn’t really like myself.I felt like a fuzzy, carbon copy of myself. I felt the passion, the conviction, and the grit somewhere inside of me yet a bunch of preconceived ideas somehow got in the way.

~ Ann Brasco

Ann Brasco Authenticity Female Empowerment Inspirational Moms Perfectionism

[Judith Warner:] Our neurotic quest to perfect the mechanics of mothering can be interpreted as an effort to do on an individual level what we’ve stopped trying to do on a society-wide one.

~ Emily Matchar

Emily Matchar Downshifting Homemakers Hyperindividualism Libertarianism Mothers Neurosis Perfectionism Social Withdrawal

Because children take everything personally, they believe that if they are being mistreated, it's because they haven't been “good enough.” Being good as an adult makes them believe, incorrectly, that they have some control in life. They think that they will be rewarded for their goodness and that it will protect them from harm.

~ Marcia Sirota

Marcia Sirota Child Abuse Child Abuse Survivors Child Maltreatment Control Issues Controlled Emotional Abuse Good Enough People Pleasing Perfectionism