If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves? as they must be if the being subjected to the inconsistent, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary will of men, be the perfect condition of slavery? and if the essence of freedom consists, as our masters say it does, in having a standing rule to live by? And why is slavery so much condemnedandstroveagainst inonecase, andsohighly applauded, and held so necessary and so sacred in another?

-Astell, Mary
  Some Reflections upon MarriageOccasion'd by the Duke and Duchess of Mazarine's Case which is also consider'd, preface (1706 edn).

Shewouldnot havehimreallysuspect suchacircumstance as her not being thought perfect byevery body.

-Austen,Jane
  Emma, ch.1.

Heaven isnot a place, and it isnot atime.Heaven isbeing perfect.

-Bach, Richard
  Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the L appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be thou perfect.

-Bible (Old Testament)
ORDGenesis17:1.

For the eyes of the L run to and fro throughout the whole earth, toshew himself strong inthebehalfofthem whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. 1Kings

-Bible (Old Testament)
ORD2 Chronicles16:9.

For the bewitching of naughtiness doth obscure things that are honest; and the wanderings of concupiscence doth undermine the simple mind.He being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time.

-Bible (Apocrypha)
Wisdom of Solomon 4:12^13.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

-Bible (NewTestament)
St Matthew 5:48.

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

-Bible (NewTestament)
St Matthew19:21^2.

   Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and havenotcharity,Iam becomeassounding brass, ora tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all mygoodstofeed thepoor, and though Igivemy body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not herown, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

-Bible (NewTestament)
Corinthians13:1^13.

My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

-Bible (NewTestament)
Corinthians12:9.

When you come to the end of a perfect day, And you sit alone with your thought, While the chimes ring out with a carol gay For the joy that the day has brought, Do you think what the end of a perfect day Can mean to a tired heart, When the sun goes down with a flaming ray, And the dear friends have to part?

-Bond, CarrieJacobs
  'A Perfect Day'.

My times be inThy hand! Perfect the cup as planned! Let age approve of youth, and Death complete the same!

-Browning, Robert
  Dramatis Personae,'Rabbi ben Ezra', stanza 32.

We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery† Our cause is just, our union is perfect.

-Dickinson,John
  Declaration of reasons for taking up arms against Britain, 8  Jul, presented to Congress. Quoted in C  J Stille The Life and Times of John Dickinson (1891), ch.5.

And if there be any addition to knowledge, it is rather a new knowledge than a greater knowledge; rather a singularity in a desire of proposing something that was not knownat all beforethananimproving, anadvancing, a multiplying of former inceptions; and by that means, no knowledge comes to be perfect.

-Donne,John
  Sermon preached at the funeral of Sir  William Cockayne, 12 Dec.

One was left, too, with a gap in Christianity: the canonical gospels do not record that Christ laughed or played.Cana man be perfect if henever laughs or plays? Krishna's jokes may be vapid, but they bridge a gap.

-Forster, E(dward) M(organ)
  The Hill of Devi,'Gokul  Ashtami'.

All perfect republics are a perfect nonsense.The craving to risk death is our last great perversion.We come from night, we go into night.Why live in night?

-Fowles,John Robert
  The Magus, ch.19.

Pike, three inches long, perfect Pike in all parts, green tigering the gold. Killers from the egg: the malevolent aged grin.

-Hughes,Ted (Edward James)
  'Pike'.

You never know what's hit you. A gunshot is the perfect way.

-Kennedy,John F(itzgerald)
Comment on methods of assassination. Quoted in Peter Collier and David Horowitz The Kennedys (1984).

Why is it no one ever sent me yet One perfect limousine, do you suppose? Ah no, it's always just my luck to get One perfect rose.

-Parker, Dorothy ne¤  e Rothschild
  Not So Deep as AWell,'One Perfect Rose'.

We're not all perfect, but we can do something perfect.

-Pizzaro, Eddie
  On his work at NewYork's Cathedral of St John the Divine. Quoted in the NewYorkTimes,14 Jul.