--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perfection is the natural consequence of…" description: "\"Perfection is the natural consequence of eternity: wait long enough, and anything will realize its potential. Coal becomes diamonds, sand becomes pearl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/ian-caldwell-26135_apes_perfection-is-the-natural-consequence-of_1332823.png" --- # Perfection is the natural consequence of eternity: wait… ![“Perfection is the natural consequence of eternity: wait long enough, and anything will realize its potential. Coal becomes diamonds, sand becomes pearls, apes become men. It's simply not given to us, in one lifetime, to see those consummations, and so every failure becomes a reminder of death.” quote by Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/ian-caldwell-26135_apes_perfection-is-the-natural-consequence-of_1332823.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/ian-caldwell-26135_apes_perfection-is-the-natural-consequence-of_1332823.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/ian-caldwell-26135_apes_perfection-is-the-natural-consequence-of_1332823.png) > “Perfection is the natural consequence of eternity: wait long enough, and anything will realize its potential. Coal becomes diamonds, sand becomes pearls, apes become men. It's simply not given to us, in one lifetime, to see those consummations, and so every failure becomes a reminder of death.” [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Patience and time transform raw material into greatness, but we rarely witness full evolution. **In simple terms:** Time reveals potential. Key Takeaway Embrace long‑term growth. Themes patience growth transformation Mood reflective hopeful Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - career development - personal goals - creative projects - scientific research Key Concepts philosophy evolution metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What long‑term goals are you nurturing? - How do you handle setbacks? A Different Perspective Not all processes are linear or guaranteed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) [Coal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coal/) [Consequence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence/) [Consequence Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence-eternity-4477844/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diamond/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Eternity Wait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity-wait-4477845/) [Excellence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excellence/) [Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given/) [Lifetime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifetime/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Natural Consequence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-consequence-918903/) [Natural consequences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-consequences/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Pearls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pearls/) [Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfection/) [Realizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realizing/) [Reminders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reminders/) [Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sand/) [Waiting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waiting/) ## Related quotes > [Peace can only come as a natural consequence of universal enlightenment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/peace-can-only-come-as-a-natural-consequence-of-universal/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) > [When we obey the commandments of the Lord and serve His children unselfishly, the natural consequence is power from God—power to do more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-scott/when-we-obey-the-commandments-of-the-lord-and-serve-his-children/) [Richard G. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-scott/) > [Remember that I will be here', he said resolutely. 'For an eternity (...). I would wait for you for an eternity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/remember-that-i-will-be-here-he-said-resolutely-for-an-eternity-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The lawlessness of frontier life in America has been pictured as a remarkable phenomenon. In reality, it was the natural consequence of indiscriminate mixing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-harris/the-lawlessness-of-frontier-life-in-america-has-been-pictured-as-a/) [Paul Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-harris/) > [A title fight should be a natural consequence of your work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mauricio-rua/a-title-fight-should-be-a-natural-consequence-of-your-work/) [Mauricio Rua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mauricio-rua/) > [I think the growing disregard for the environment, culture, and heritage is a natural consequence of capitalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/varg-vikernes/i-think-the-growing-disregard-for-the-environment-culture-and/) [Varg Vikernes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/varg-vikernes/) > [“Trust is the natural consequence of promises fulfilled, of predictions that come true, and of values lived.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helio-fred-garcia/trust-is-the-natural-consequence-of-promises-fulfilled-of-predictions/) [Helio Fred Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helio-fred-garcia/) > [“To fail is a natural consequence of trying, to succeed is a natural consequence of Cosmic Ordering.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-richards/to-fail-is-a-natural-consequence-of-trying-to-succeed-is-a-natural/) [Stephen Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-richards/) > [Every present state of a simple substance is the natural consequence of its preceding state, in such a way that its present is big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/every-present-state-of-a-simple-substance-is-the-natural-consequence/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [“What follows as a natural consequence? Men reconcile themselves to swindling. Though they themselves mean to be honest, dishonesty of itself is no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/what-follows-as-a-natural-consequence-men-reconcile-themselves-to/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [Being offended is a natural consequence of leaving the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/being-offended-is-a-natural-consequence-of-leaving-the-house/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [The natural consequence of our submission, even in part, to the system that looks to compelling the export of raw products, the exhaustion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-charles-carey/the-natural-consequence-of-our-submission-even-in-part-to-the-system/) [Henry Charles Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-charles-carey/) > [“And no sooner had Cap been commanded, if she valued her safety, not to cross the water or climb the precipice than, as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-d-e-n-southworth/and-no-sooner-had-cap-been-commanded-if-she-valued-her-safety-not-to/) [E.D.E.N. Southworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-d-e-n-southworth/) > [Idealization of a group is a natural consequence of separation from the group; in other words, it is a by-product of alienation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-gunn-allen/idealization-of-a-group-is-a-natural-consequence-of-separation-from/) [Paula Gunn Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-gunn-allen/) > [It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristian-birkeland/it-seems-to-be-a-natural-consequence-of-our-points-of-view-to-assume/) [Kristian Birkeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristian-birkeland/) ## More by Ian Caldwell > [The strong take from the weak, but the smart take from the strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/the-strong-take-from-the-weak-but-the-smart-take-from-the-strong/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [The only things people can ever know about you are the ones that you let them see](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/the-only-things-people-can-ever-know-about-you-are-the-ones-that-you/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [“Time is what disperses us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/time-is-what-disperses-us/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [“With that in mind, I try to imagine the greatest gift I could've given my father. And as sleep descends on me, the answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/with-that-in-mind-i-try-to-imagine-the-greatest-gift-i-could-ve-given/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [Never invest yourself in anything so deeply that its failure could cost you your happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/never-invest-yourself-in-anything-so-deeply-that-its-failure-could/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [“Hope, Paul said to me once, which whispered from Pandora's box only after all the other plagues and sorrows had escaped, is the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/hope-paul-said-to-me-once-which-whispered-from-pandora-s-box-only/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [A son is a promise that time makes to a man,the guarantee every father receives that whatever he holds dear will someday be considered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/a-son-is-a-promise-that-time-makes-to-a-man-the-guarantee-every/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [“They could never quite reconcile themselves to the idea that our lives don't follow the dramatic arc that a good author gives to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/they-could-never-quite-reconcile-themselves-to-the-idea-that-our/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [“Hope...which is whispered from Pandora's box only after all the other plagues and sorrows had escaped, is the best and last of all things.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/hope-which-is-whispered-from-pandora-s-box-only-after-all-the-other/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [Two people who think they're in love can find out, when left alone, exactly how little they know about each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/two-people-who-think-they-re-in-love-can-find-out-when-left-alone/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [“The magic of Paul’s intelligence is that he has more patience than anyone I’ve ever met, and with it he simply wears problems down.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/the-magic-of-paul-s-intelligence-is-that-he-has-more-patience-than/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [Adulthood it a glacier encroaching quietly on youth. When it arrives, the stamp of childhood suddenly freezes, capturing us for good in the image…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/adulthood-it-a-glacier-encroaching-quietly-on-youth-when-it-arrives/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [“Inde fernut, titidem qui vivere debeat annos, corpre de patrio parvum phenica renasci' It's from Ovid. It means, 'A little phoenix is born anew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/inde-fernut-titidem-qui-vivere-debeat-annos-corpre-de-patrio-parvum/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [Time is the guy at the amusement park who paints shirts with an airbrush. He sprays out the color in a fine mist until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/time-is-the-guy-at-the-amusement-park-who-paints-shirts-with-an/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) > [“What a strange thing, to build a castle in the air. We made a friendship out of nothing, because nothing was the heart of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-caldwell/what-a-strange-thing-to-build-a-castle-in-the-air-we-made-a/) [Ian Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) [Explore all 22 Ian Caldwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-caldwell/) ## More Apes quotes > [Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/television-s-perfect-you-turn-a-few-knobs-a-few-of-those-mechanical/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/as-nature-made-every-man-with-a-nose-and-eyes-of-his-own-she-gave-him/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/and-the-devil-did-grin-for-his-darling-sin-is-pride-that-apes-humility/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Battle For The Planet Of The Apes', was just a film for kids and didn't have any deep meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-lee-thompson/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-was-just-a-film-for-kids-and-didn-t/) [J. Lee Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-lee-thompson/) > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The idea that war should be conducted within a moral framework may seem like a quaint medieval practice, but as speech separates humans from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-idea-that-war-should-be-conducted-within-a-moral-framework-may/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is man an ape or an angel? Now I am on the side of the angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/is-man-an-ape-or-an-angel-now-i-am-on-the-side-of-the-angels/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [I think the problem we have as apes is we're asking far bigger questions than we could possibly process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-think-the-problem-we-have-as-apes-is-we-re-asking-far-bigger/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realise-that-we-are-apes/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Lower your gaze because you become less of a human every time you stare at a woman and you stare at her like she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/lower-your-gaze-because-you-become-less-of-a-human-every-time-you/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [It was their individuality combined with the shyness of their behavior that remained the most captivating impression of this first encounter with the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-fossey/it-was-their-individuality-combined-with-the-shyness-of-their/) [Dian Fossey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-fossey/) > [Apes had it worked out. No ape would philosophize, "The mountain is, and is not." They would think, "The banana is. I will eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/apes-had-it-worked-out-no-ape-would-philosophize-the-mountain-is-and/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Browse all 444 Apes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Perfection is the natural consequence of eternity: wait long enough, and anything will realize its potential. Coal becomes diamonds, sand becomes pearls, apes become men. 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