Quotes About Restraint

Because mankind can circumvent evolutionary law, it is incumbent upon him, say evolutionary biologists, to develop another law to abide by if he wishes to survive, to not outstrip his food base. He must learn restraint. He must derive some other, wiser way of behaving toward the land.

I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice. Still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone.

He had stopped drinking, but the need to be free had been just as great...

Algunos pájaros no están destinados a que los enjaulen, eso es todo. Tienen las plumas demasiado brillantes, su canto es demasiado dulce y libre. Así que, o les dejas irse, o, cuando abres la jaula para darles de comer, se las arreglan para escapar volando. Y la parte de ti que en el fondo creía que era un error tenerlos cautivos se alboroza, pese al hecho de que el lugar en que vives sea mucho más lóbrego y triste tras su partida.

Chains (other than the ones we all learned to make out of strips of colored paper in kindergarten I suppose) are strong. We use them to pull engine blocks out of trucks and to bind the arms and legs of dangerous prisoners.

The undisciplined are slaves to moods, appetites and passions

To not say the unkind or critical thing, particularly when provoked and/or fatigued, is a supreme kind of self-mastery.

The ability to listen first requires restraint, respect, and reverence. And the ability to make yourself understood requires courage and consideration. On the continuum, you go from fight and flight instincts to mature two-way communication where courage is balanced with consideration.

When we talk about others, we should be very careful to observe our motive—especially if we're talking about a person who isn't present.

Make sure you've always got one foot on his brakes and another on yours.

An expert whose argument reeks of restraint or nuance often doesn't get much attention.

Come up with a terrible idea? No problem—just don't act on it.

In some eras, self-control defines the paragon of a decent person: a grown-up, a person of dignity, a lady or a gentleman, a mensch. In others it is jeered at as uptight, prudish, stuffy, straitlaced, puritanical. Certainly the crime-prone 1960s were the recent era that most glorified the relaxation of self-control: Do your own thing, Let it all hang out, If it feels good do it, Take a walk on the wild side.

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offence. Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That wants it down.

I love sushi, I love fried chicken, I love steak. But there is a limit to my love.

I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires.

Anyone who tries to imprison love will cut off the spring that feeds it, and the trapped water will grow stagnant and rank.

It is a difficult matter to keep love imprisoned.

You needn't love your enemy, but if you refrain from telling lies about him, you are doing well enough.

Actors must practice restraint, else think what might happen in a love scene.

When I really love a movie, I don't want to spoil it by too frequent visits. But I like to come back to certain films, which I admire.

You will soon break the bow if you keep it always stretched.

Falling in love makes smoking pot all day look like the ultimate in restraint.

Love increases through righteous restraint and decreases through impulsive indulgence.