The idea that a "pigmented lesion" less than 7 mm in diameter is "benign or a curable form of malignant melanoma" is specious. Nearly always, primary cutaneous melanomas begin as a macule that is much smaller than 7 mm in diameter. Moreover, melanomas, except for those rare examples in prepubescent children, do not evolve in a fashion analogous to Athena springing from the brow of Zeus; they begin as a tiny macule that grows remarkably slowly. Clinicians should not concentrate on pigmented lesions larger than 7 mm, but on ones that are flat of any size, no matter how small or how large. When a melanoma is flat and without signs of regression, it is curable by simple excision.