--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Learning to give up on perfection may be…" description: "\"Learning to give up on perfection may be just about the most romantic move any of us could make.\" — Alain de Botton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/alain-de-botton-221_learning_learning-to-give-up-on-perfection-may-be_855406.jpg" --- # Learning to give up on perfection may be just about the… ![“Learning to give up on perfection may be just about the most romantic move any of us could make.” quote by Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/alain-de-botton-221_learning_learning-to-give-up-on-perfection-may-be_855406.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/alain-de-botton-221_learning_learning-to-give-up-on-perfection-may-be_855406.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/alain-de-botton-221_learning_learning-to-give-up-on-perfection-may-be_855406.jpg) > “Learning to give up on perfection may be just about the most romantic move any of us could make.” [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Accepting imperfection frees us to love authentically, embracing flaws as part of humanity. **In simple terms:** Letting go of perfection opens space for love. Key Takeaway Embrace imperfection to foster deeper connections. Themes love imperfection authenticity Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - dating - creative projects - personal growth - teamwork Key Concepts human nature psychology relationships Questions to Reflect On - How does striving for perfection affect your relationships? - What small imperfection can you celebrate today? A Different Perspective Perfectionism can still hinder progress if not balanced. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Just Romantic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-romantic-795529/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Learning Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning-perfection-795530/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Move](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/move/) [Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfection/) [Perfection Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfection-just-795532/) [Romantic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romantic/) [Romantic Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romantic-make-795531/) [Us](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/us/) ## Related quotes > [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.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-giffin/but-i-am-learning-that-perfection-isn-t-what-matters-in-fact-it-s-the/) [Emily Giffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-giffin/) > [“Dinner will not be perfect, but I am learning that perfection isn't what matters. In fact, it's the very thing that can destroy you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-giffin/dinner-will-not-be-perfect-but-i-am-learning-that-perfection-isn-t/) [Emily Giffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-giffin/) > [You know, I am just so romantic. Sometimes I think I should just marry myself. -Mike Wazowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monster-inc/you-know-i-am-just-so-romantic-sometimes-i-think-i-should-just-marry/) [Monster Inc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monster-inc/) > [Everything is just so much more romantic and real when it's yours and it's private.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dove-cameron/everything-is-just-so-much-more-romantic-and-real-when-it-s-yours-and/) [Dove Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dove-cameron/) > [“The first thing you should know is that soulmates are real. They are not just some romantic idea. We are made for one person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-stoyanoff/the-first-thing-you-should-know-is-that-soulmates-are-real-they-are/) [Ashley Stoyanoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-stoyanoff/) > [Perfection is not just about control, it is also about letting go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-swan-darren-aronofsky/perfection-is-not-just-about-control-it-is-also-about-letting-go/) [Black Swan Darren Aronofsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-swan-darren-aronofsky/) > [Perfection is just a way for us to say you are an imperfect work of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silence/perfection-is-just-a-way-for-us-to-say-you-are-an-imperfect-work-of/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silence/) > [“Perfection is just an opinion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-quintero/perfection-is-just-an-opinion/) [Julian Quintero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-quintero/) > [“Never try to be other than you are. You are perfection, just as you are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/never-try-to-be-other-than-you-are-you-are-perfection-just-as-you-are/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [You + me = perfection. Just kidding, you're a piece of shit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-me-perfection-just-kidding-you-re-a-piece-of-shit/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I never wanted System to take a hiatus. 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You could wear it on the surface of the sun and it wouldn't move.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-smith/i-ve-discovered-special-makeup-by-a-company-called-m-a-c-you-could/) [Robert Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-smith/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) ## More by Alain de Botton > [“To be mature is, we're told, to move beyond possessiveness. Jealousy is for babies. The mature person knows that no one owns anyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/to-be-mature-is-we-re-told-to-move-beyond-possessiveness-jealousy-is/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-feared-that-by-leaving-her-he-would-ruin-her-life-so-he-stayed-and/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [You have to be quite heavily invested in someone to do them the honour of telling them you're annoyed with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/you-have-to-be-quite-heavily-invested-in-someone-to-do-them-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“The Anxiety of Sunday afternoon: your unlived lives and infinite possibility pressing upon the constraints of reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-anxiety-of-sunday-afternoon-your-unlived-lives-and-infinite/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Those who divorce aren't necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/those-who-divorce-aren-t-necessarily-the-most-unhappy-just-those/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We could not be fulfilled if we weren't inauthentic some of the time—inauthentic, that is, in relation to such things as our passing desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-could-not-be-fulfilled-if-we-weren-t-inauthentic-some-of-the-time/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Insofar as we appreciate order, it is when we perceive it as being accompanied by complexity, when we feel that a variety of elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/insofar-as-we-appreciate-order-it-is-when-we-perceive-it-as-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [I like the values associated with a medical family - common sense, being practical but also thoughtful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-like-the-values-associated-with-a-medical-family-common-sense-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Anyone who urgently needs us deserves, in the true book of love, to be our friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/anyone-who-urgently-needs-us-deserves-in-the-true-book-of-love-to-be/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We can then recognize that we invented religions to serve two central needs which continue to this day and which secular society has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-can-then-recognize-that-we-invented-religions-to-serve-two-central/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-is-perhaps-when-our-lives-are-at-their-most-problematic-that-we/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Does what is praised becomes better? Does an emerald become worse if it isn't praised? 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Pacat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-u-pacat/) [Browse all 22,300 Learning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Learning to give up on perfection may be just about the most romantic move any of us could make.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alain de Botton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/learning-to-give-up-on-perfection-may-be-just-about-the-most-romantic/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Learning" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/learning-to-give-up-on-perfection-may-be-just-about-the-most-romantic/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/alain-de-botton-221_learning_learning-to-give-up-on-perfection-may-be_855406.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/alain-de-botton-221_learning_learning-to-give-up-on-perfection-may-be_855406.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/alain-de-botton-221_learning_learning-to-give-up-on-perfection-may-be_855406.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Learning to give up on perfection may be just about the most romantic move any of us could make.” — Alain de Botton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alain de Botton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Learning to give up on perfection...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/learning-to-give-up-on-perfection-may-be-just-about-the-most-romantic/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/learning-to-give-up-on-perfection-may-be-just-about-the-most-romantic/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```