self-discipline quotes

I didn’t work hard to sit down and not work.

I could not do what I do, and teach a class, and never miss a deadline, never be late for anything if I was a lush, OK? I would really love to read a piece that said, ‚He is not a lush.‘ That would be fabulous, it would be a first, I could show it to people and say, ‚Look!‘

Everything is generated through your own will power.

It is not good to be too free. It is not good to have everything one wants.

With self-discipline most anything is possible.

I know that one of the great arts that the writer develops is the art of saying, ‚No. No, I’m finished. Bye.‘ And leaving it alone. I will not write it into the ground. I will not write the life out of it. I won’t do that.

Whether you call it Buddhism or another religion, self-discipline, that’s important. Self-discipline with awareness of consequences.

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.

Never complain and never explain.

I like to talk to myself ahead of time so when temptation comes, I’ve already made up my mind that I have the victory.

It is more difficult to rule yourself than to rule a city.

He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty.

Responsibility is the price of freedom.

I think the discipline comes with turning that cellphone and Blackberry off and unplugging completely. You do that and you go through some withdrawals in the beginning. You start thinking, ‚Oh, do I need to do this? Do I need to do that?‘ You forget that we were doing just fine with the payphone.

I’m kind of fascist with myself, you know.

God has equipped you to handle difficult things. In fact, He has already planted the seeds of discipline and self-control inside you. You just have to water those seeds with His Word to make them grow!

Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it we have always to combat with ourselves.

Many years ago, I concluded that a few hair shirts were part of the mental wardrobe of every man. The president differs from other men in that he has a more extensive wardrobe.

I need to keep working on myself for a while.

I am very strict about what I eat. I do not consume anything that my body does not require. It takes a lot of sacrifice and discipline. It wasn’t easy before but now its second nature for me.

In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves… self-discipline with all of them came first.

We should every night call ourselves to an account: what infirmity have I mastered today? what passions opposed? what temptation resisted? what virtue acquired? Our vices will abate of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift.

There is one thing that gets you out of bed in the morning, and that is discipline. Because your dreams and your goals are not there waking up for you in the morning.

The moment the alarm goes off is the first test; it sets the tone for the rest of the day. The test is not a complex one: when the alarm goes off, do you get up out of bed, or do you lie there in comfort and fall back to sleep? If you have the discipline to get out of bed, you win – you pass the test.

The best people renounce all for one goal, the eternal fame of mortals; but most people stuff themselves like cattle.

Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.

Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that’s real power.

Conviction never so excellent, is worthless until it coverts itself into conduct.

It is a clear gain to sacrifice pleasure in order to avoid pain.

Do I have chocolate chip cookies? Yes, I do. Do I have mint chocolate chip milkshakes? Yes, I do. I love them. They are fantastic. But when I have them, they’re worth it. I earned them. I did something. I worked out super hard. I stayed clean on food.

I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.

Any man can call time out, but no man can say how long the time out will be.

Do something everyday for no other reason than you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved and untrained to stand the test.

There is only one sort of discipline, perfect discipline.

Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.

The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile.

Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.

For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.

Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.

I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.

But if I have a lot of imagination, I could tell myself whatever I wanted, you know. I handle myself quite well. I’m kind of fascist with myself, you know. There’s no discussion. There is an order. You follow it.

The most valuable of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it has to be done, whether you like it or not.

He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled.

If a man has nothing to eat, fasting is the most intelligent thing he can do.

I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.

Either you think, or else others have to think for you and take power from you, pervert and discipline your natural tastes, civilize and sterilize you.

What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.

I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.