Moving from context to implication, the saying challenges a habit of binary sorting: admirable or contemptible, angelic or hopeless. Such categories are rhetorically convenient, but they flatten the textured reality of character. A person can be generous and vain, brilliant and careless, loyal and fearful—often within the same day.
Consequently, the quote becomes a warning about our own perceptions. When we believe someone has “nothing” to recommend her, we may be revealing the narrowness of our criteria or the limits of our attention. Likewise, when we declare someone perfect, we may be projecting desires and anxieties rather than seeing the person herself. [...]
