"Perfect numbers like perfect men are very rare"
About this Quote
The line works because it pretends to flatter two ideals at once and quietly punctures both. Mathematicians love clean definitions; moralists love exemplary figures. Descartes yokes them together, then lets the math do the dirty work: once you define “perfect” rigorously, you discover how little of reality qualifies. The subtext isn’t that we should stop seeking virtue; it’s that we should be suspicious of the word “perfect” when applied to people. Perfection becomes less a goal than a category error, a demand for a kind of completeness humans can’t sustain.
Context matters. Descartes is a builder of systems, famous for method and clarity, but also for distrusting inherited certainties. In a Europe hungry for authority, he offers a cooler consolation: standards that are too pure will leave you lonely. The joke lands because it’s half sermon, half theorem, and it makes humility sound like intellect.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Descartes, Rene. (2026, January 15). Perfect numbers like perfect men are very rare. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/perfect-numbers-like-perfect-men-are-very-rare-1329/
Chicago Style
Descartes, Rene. "Perfect numbers like perfect men are very rare." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/perfect-numbers-like-perfect-men-are-very-rare-1329/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Perfect numbers like perfect men are very rare." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/perfect-numbers-like-perfect-men-are-very-rare-1329/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.









