Quotes About Self-control

Why are you pestering me, pal? My own evils are enough for me.

Remember that in life you ought to behave as at a banquet. Suppose that something is carried round and is opposite to you. Stretch out your hand and take a portion with decency. Suppose that it passes by you. Do not detain it. Suppose that it is not yet come to you. Do not send your desire forward to it, but wait till it is opposite to you.

Whoever then would be free, let him wish nothing, let him decline nothing, which depends on others; else he must necessarily be a slave.

Whatever moral rules you have deliberately proposed to yourself. abide by them as they were laws, and as if you would be guilty of impiety by violating any of them. Don't regard what anyone says of you, for this, after all, is no concern of yours.

It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them.

Most people are impulsive, however, and having committed to the thing, they persist, just making more confusion for themselves and others until it all end in mutual recrimination.

Prefer enduring satisfaction to immediate gratification.

Remember to act always as if you were at a symposium. When the food or drink comes around, reach out and take some politely; if it passes you by don't try to pulling it back. And if it has not reached you yet, don't let your desire run ahead of you, be patient until your turn comes.

If you are told that someone is talking badly of you, don't defend yourself against the story but reply: "Obviously he didn't know my other faults, or he would have mentioned them as well.

Only consider at what price you sell your own will: if for no other reason, at least for this, that you sell it not for a small sum.

You can be invincible, if you enter into no contest in which it is not in your power to conquer.

If you keep yourself calm, poised and dignified, [10] if you observe rather than are observed, if you don't envy people with greater success, don't let externals disconcert you – if you do all this, what more do you need?

When you are feeling upset, angry, or sad," Epictetus said, Ã¢â'¬Å"don't blame another for your state of mind. Your condition is the result of your own opinions and interpretations. . . . "When anyone provokes you, remember that it is actually your own opinion provoking you. It is not the person who insults or attacks you who torments your mind, but the view you take of these things.

Freedom is not attained through the satisfaction of desires, but through the suppression of desires.

Tis true I know what evil I shall do but passion overpowers the better council.

All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.

Whenever a challenge arises, turn inward and ask what power you can exercise in the situation. If you meet temptation, use self-control; if you meet pain, use fortitude; if you meet revulsion, use patience. In this way, you will overcome life's challenges, rather than be overcome by them.

You only have to doze a moment, and all is lost. For ruin and salvation both have their source inside you.

Treasure Your Mind, Cherish Your Reason, Hold to Your Purpose Don't surrender your mind. If someone were to casually give your body away to any old passerby, you would naturally be furious. Why then do you feel no shame in giving your precious mind over to any person who might wish to influence you? Think twice before you give up your own mind to someone who may revile you, leaving you confused and upset.

If you meet temptation, use self-control; if you meet pain, use fortitude; if you meet revulsion, use patience.

Make it your goal never to fail in your desires or experience things you would rather avoid; try never to err in impulse and repulsion; aim to be perfect also in the practice of attention and withholding judgment.

In the long run, every man will pay the penalty for his own misdeeds. The man who remembers this will be angry with no one, indignant with no one, revile no one, blame no one, offend no one, hate no one.

at any one time, whereas the conjunctive proposition 'Both it is day and it is night' is false at any moment. 8. As you are careful … at the same time: E.g. by 'strutting' or otherwise walking in an inappropriate manner, or engaging in undignified thoughts or daydreams. 9. Don't embrace marble statues: Outdoors, naked, in cold weather: a bizarre and showy kind

Whoever then wishes to be free, let him neither wish for anything nor avoid anything which depends on others: if he does not observe this rule, he must be a slave.