Perfection & Imperfection

A friend called on Michelangelo as he was putting what appeared to be the finishing touches on a sculpture. Later when the visitor stopped in to see the artist again, he was surprised to find him busy on the same stature. Seeing no evident changes, he exclaimed, "You haven't been working on the statue all this time, have you!" "Yes, I have," the sculptor replied. "I've been busy retouching this part, and polishing that part; I have softened this feature, and brought out that muscle; I've given more expression to the lips, and more energy to that arm." "But all those things are so insignificant," said his visitor. "They are mere trifles." "That may be so," replied Michelangelo, "but trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle."

-Sermons Illustrated May/June 1990