Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal

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Trevor Bradford knew exactly what he wanted and it wasn’t his plump little tenant who was driving him out of his mind, but with every touch, kiss, and caress, it was becoming more difficult to walk away in this romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author R.L. Mathewson. St. Gregory wrote that perfection will be realized only after the fulfillment of history — only "then will the world be beautiful and perfect." Still, everyone should make his own approach to perfection — to holiness. Discourses in moral theology and asceticism were generous with advice on how this was to be done. [17] Tatarkiewicz, "Moral Perfection," Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), pp. 117–18.

The foregoing discussion shows that the term "perfection" has been used to designate a variety of concepts: Władysław Tatarkiewicz, O doskonałości (On Perfection), Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1976. At the very midpoint of the 18th century, there occurred an exceptional momentary retreat from the idea of perfection. It was in the French Encyclopédie. The entry, "Perfection" (vol. XII, 1765), discussed only technical perfection, in the sense of the matching of human products to the tasks set for them; no mention was made of ontological, moral or esthetic perfection. [21] An English translation of Tatarkiewicz's book ( On Perfection), by Christopher Kasparek, was serialized in Dialectics and Humanism: the Polish Philosophical Quarterly, vol. VI, no. 4 (autumn 1979), pp.5–10; vol. VII, no. 1 (winter 1980), pp.77–80; vol. VII, no. 2 (spring 1980), pp.137–39; vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), pp.117–24; vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), pp.145–53; vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), pp.187–92; and vol. VIII, no. 2 (spring 1981), pp.11–12.

a b c Tatarkiewicz, "Ontological and Theological Perfection," Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 191. The variants on the concept of perfection would have been quite of a piece for two thousand years, had they not been confused with other, kindred concepts. The chief of these was the concept of that which is the best: in Latin, " excellentia" ("excellence"). In antiquity, " excellentia" and " perfectio" made a pair; thus, for example, dignitaries were called " perfectissime", just as they are now called "excellency." Nevertheless, these two expression of high regard differ fundamentally: " excellentia" is a distinction among many, and implies comparison; while " perfectio" involves no comparison, and if something is deemed perfect, then it is deemed so in itself, without comparison to other things. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who thought much about perfection and held the world to be the best of possible worlds, did not claim that it was perfect. [5] Paradoxes Vanini

I have nothing against gluten, but this book is just full of recipes I long to make' - Nigella Lawson Linguistic Atlas of Late Medieval English, 1:118; 3:25-26 (the linguistic profile); 4:336 (the map location). See also Hideo Yamaguchi, "A Short Descriptive Study," pp. 110-71.The first half of the 17th century saw attempts at a Catholic reform of the idea of perfection. This was the time of Cornelis Jansen (1585–1638) and of Jansenism — of a growing belief in predestination and in the impossibility of perfection without grace. [19] In physics and chemistry, "perfection" designates a model — a conceptual construct for bodies that in reality do not precisely correspond to the model.

Tatarkiewicz, "Aesthetic Perfection", Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 148. There have been ages of perfection, and ages of expression. The arts of ancient Greece, the Renaissance and neoclassicism were arts of perfection. In the mannerist, baroque and romantic periods, expression has prevailed. [34] Ontology and theology But Plato said nothing about the Demiurge architect-of-the-world himself being perfect. And understandably so, for perfection implied finitude, limits; whereas it was the world, not its creator, that had limits. A similar view was held by Aristotle: the world could be perfect, but God could not. [36] Leibniz's pupil and successor, Christian Wolff, took up this concept of perfection — but with a difference. Wolff ascribed perfection not to being as a whole, but once again to its individual constituents. He gave, as examples, an eye that sees faultlessly, and a watch that runs faultlessly. He also distinguished variants — perfectio simplex and composita, primaria and secundaria — and differentiated the magnitude of perfection ( magnitudo perfectionis). [43] Some will see a radicalism to these propositions, but Curran is reluctant to over-politicise his message. He sees hope in more people simply discussing and identifying how pressures and insecurities can manifest – and where that truly comes from. “We need to recognise the societal structures that are impacting these feelings and confront them,” he says. “To talk about them. To see that this is a bigger issue than me feeling like a person who is never enough.” As far as individuals are concerned, Curran argues, the most powerful thing we can do is see the flaws in the system, accept ourselves for who we are – not what we have or achieve, and believe that there is such a thing as “good enough”. Life, after all, is imperfect.Among the major religious treatises written in fourteenth-century England, The Scale of Perfection of Walter Hilton maintains a secure place. The Scale is a guide to the contemplative life in two books of more than 40,000 words each and is notable not only for the careful exploration of its religious themes, but as a principal monument of Middle English prose. With the second half of the 17th century came a further development in the doctrine of predestination — the doctrine of " Quietism". Perfection could be reached through a passive awaiting of grace rather than by an active striving. This theory, formulated in Spain by Miguel de Molinos (ca. 1628 - 1697), spread in France, where it was espoused by Madame Guyon (1648–1717) and for a time attracted François Fénelon. [19]

a b c Tatarkiewicz, "Perfection: the Term and the Concept," Dialectics and Humanism, vol. VI, no. 4 (autumn 1979), p. 5. The Greek mathematicians had named these numbers "perfect" in the same sense in which philosophers and artists used the word. Jamblich ( In Nicomachi arithmeticam, Leipzig, 1894) states that the Pythagoreans had called the number 6 "marriage", "health", and "beauty", on account of the harmony and accord of that number. [9] Perfect numbers have been distinguished ever since the ancient Greeks called them " teleioi." There was, however, no consensus among the Greeks as to which numbers were "perfect" or why. A view that was shared by Plato held that 10 was a perfect number. [8] Mathematicians, including the mathematician-philosopher Pythagoreans, proposed as a perfect number, the number 6. [8] For everything in this journey of life we are on, there is a right wing and a left wing: for the wing of love there is anger; for the wing of destiny there is fear; for the wing of pain there is healing; for the wing of hurt there is forgiveness; for the wing of pride there is humility; for the wing of giving there is taking; for the wing of tears there is joy; for the wing of rejection there is acceptance; for the wing of judgment there is grace; for the wing of honor there is shame; for the wing of letting go there is the wing of keeping. We can only fly with two wings and two wings can only stay in the air if there is a balance. Two beautiful wings is perfection. There is a generation of people who idealize perfection as the existence of only one of these wings every time. But I see that a bird with one wing is imperfect. An angel with one wing is imperfect. A butterfly with one wing is dead. So this generation of people strive to always cut off the other wing in the hopes of embodying their ideal of perfection, and in doing so, have created a crippled race.”Despite over 2,000 years of study, it still is not known whether there exist infinitely many perfect numbers; or whether there are any odd ones. [9] The editing of Middle English texts is a topic that has inspired much recent scholarly debate; much of this is admirably summarized in Moffat, "A Bibliographical Essay," pp. 25-57. All the essays in this volume, A Guide to Editing Middle English, may be consulted with profit; see also the important essays in Minnis and Brewer (1992), especially S. S. Hussey, "Editing The Scale of Perfection," pp. 97-107; and R. Allen Shoaf's Introduction to his edition of Thomas Usk's Testament of Love (1998), pp. 1-5. Another early idea — one that was to be espoused by many illustrious writers and artists of various periods — found perfection in the circle and the sphere. Aristotle wrote in the Physica that the circle was "the perfect, first, most beautiful form". Cicero wrote in De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods): "Two forms are the most distinctive: of solids, the sphere... and of plane figures, the circle... There is nothing more commensurate than these forms." [25] This practical self-help guide will show you how to transform 40 common self-defeating behaviors into more productive and compassionate ones. The 14th century saw, with the Scotists, a shift in interest from moral to ontological perfection; the 15th century, particularly during the Italian Renaissance, a shift to artistic perfection. [19]