Written by admin on May 26, 2010 – 7:31 pm
-by Bob Proctor
If you are in search of ideas that will stimulate you to greater results and rewards, permit me to suggest that you take a peek into history, or read biographies of great men and women from the past. There is a wonderful biography written by John Addington Symonds on the life of one of the most famous Italians who has ever lived. The biography is titled, The Life of Michelangelo.
Michelangelo Buonarroti was born over 500 years ago. He was almost 90 years of age when he died, leaving the world with masterpieces which will live forever.
How does one do such work of perfection with lasting beauty?
Perhaps this question can be answered in part, through a story about the time Michelangelo was putting some finishing touches to one of his statues when a friend called. A few days later his friend called again, and when he saw the statue, commented that the sculptor couldn’t have done much to it since he was there last.
Michelangelo raised an eyebrow and replied, “I have retouched this part and polished that. I have softened this feature and brought out this muscle. I have given more expression to this lip and more energy to that limb.”
“Oh yes”, said his friend, “but all these are trifles”.
“Perhaps so”, replied Michelangelo, “but trifles make perfection – and perfection is no trifle”.
What a great lesson for us. Think of the times we skip over the trifles because we know no one will notice the difference. However, when the trifles are all molded together, they spell “perfection”. Although you may never reach perfection, taking care of the trifles will definitely improve the quality of your work and you will be rewarded accordingly.
