Leadership Quote by Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

Love, Bulwer-Lytton suggests, is less a reward for excellence than a bargain struck over imperfection. The line has the elegance of a social trick: instead of polishing yourself into an untouchable ideal, you deliberately let the seams show. It works because it targets a basic interpersonal asymmetry: virtues invite admiration, but faults invite participation. A flawless person can be clapped for; a flawed person can be known.

The intent isn’t anti-virtue so much as anti-performance. Bulwer-Lytton was a Victorian politician and man of letters, steeped in a culture where reputations were built on poise, restraint, and the careful management of “character.” In that world, showing faults functions as a controlled breach of decorum, a small rebellion that signals authenticity. It’s also a power move. By confessing first, you seize the narrative, preempt gossip, and turn vulnerability into social leverage. The audience is subtly recruited as collaborator rather than judge.

Subtext: people don’t fall in love with your résumé; they fall in love with access. Faults create the feeling of intimacy because they imply trust, and trust is more adhesive than awe. There’s a sly cynicism here, too: the quote treats affection as something you can engineer. It flatters the listener’s generosity (you’re needed to accept me) while lowering the stakes of comparison (you can’t compete with my virtues, but you can relate to my mess).

Read in context, it’s Victorian realism posing as romantic advice: love thrives not on curated virtue, but on shared human compromise.