Perfect, he, as a lover, might have called them off-hand. But no — they were not perfect. and it was the touch of the imperfect upon the would-be per… - Thomas Hardy

It was the touch of the imperfect upon the would-be perfect that gave the sweetness, because it was that which gave the humanity

And it was the touch of the imperfect upon the would-be perfect that gave the sweetness, because it was that which gave the humanity.

She had no fear of the shadows; her sole idea seemed to be to shun mankind — or rather that cold accretion called the world, which, so terrible in the mass, is so unformidable, even pitiable, in its units.

He was like one who had half fainted, and could neither recover nor complete the swoon.

Such miserable creatures of circumstance are we all!