Perfection is so far away from us that, however much our lives may differ, the distance between us and perfection is the same for all of us.
The one who has no notion of perfection is satisfied with what exists and does not argue with reality, which becomes for him identical with justice, with the good and with beauty. For such a person there is no movement, no life.
— After Amiel
The driving force of all improvement, both in individuals and in nations, is not the knowledge of what is, but a vision of what can be.
— Martineau
“The human being is weak, the goals we set must be within our power,” people say. This is the same as to say: my hands are weak and I cannot draw a straight line between two points, and so, to make it easier for myself, I will instead follow the example of a crooked line, or a broken one, even though a straight line is what I want.
The weaker my hand, the more perfect should be the example for me to follow.
“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
The perfection of God, i.e. the perfection of the highest good of all, is what all of humankind aspires to.
The Christian teaching of perfection is the only teaching that can guide humankind.
We cannot and must not replace the image of perfection in Christ’s teaching with external rules, and instead we must firmly keep this image before us in all of its purity and, most important, we must believe in it.
We can tell someone who is sailing near the shore to stick to some elevation, cape, coastline, etc. But when sailors are some distance away from the shore, they can only be guided by unreachable stars and a compass that points them in the right direction. We have been given both.
No matter how a human being falls, he is always capable of seeing the perfection he can move towards.
