Chesterton Redux

Another Chesterton quote. I first heard it on a retreat, years ago. It goes like this:

If a thing is worth doing it is worth doing badly.

It's apparently from a Chesterton work entitled What's Wrong with the World. The words were cited as an encouragement for those in attendance to take a certain step, no matter how imperfectly.

The advice was helpful.

It worked.

It has worked.

It's working.

Today.

The quote is most helpful -- ironically enough for perfectionists (I tend toward that), prodding them out of the paralysis of purported perfectness (itself an illusion, a vanity, a willfullness instead of a surrender).

I've made the 'mistake' of repeating this line in the world of business. They don't get it.

But I still say it in my head -- especially when I'm on a stress-filled deadline.