Moving along the upward spiral requires us to learn, commit, and do on increasingly higher planes. We deceive ourselves if we think that any one of these is sufficient. To keep progressing, we must learn, commit, and do—learn, commit, and do—and learn, commit, and do again.
—Stephen Covey (1932–2012) American Self-help Author
The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
We have ancient habits to deal with, vast structures of power, indescribably complicated problems to solve. But unless we abdicate our humanity altogether and succumb to fear and impotence in the presence of the weapons we have ourselves created, it is as possible and as urgent to put an end to war and violence between nations as it is to put an end to poverty and racial injustice.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
You have to persevere and fortify your pertinacity until the will to good becomes a disposition to good.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Habit is a great deadener.
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) Irish Novelist, Playwright
The fixity of a habit is generally in direct proportion to its absurdity.
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922) French Novelist
Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition, is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
Bad habits are as infectious by example as the plague itself is by contact.
—Henry Fielding (1707–54) English Novelist, Dramatist
As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Habituation puts to sleep the eye of our judgment.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
An elephant can be tethered by a thread—if he believes he is captive. If we believe we are chained by habit or anxiety, we are in bondage.
—John H. Crowe
People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.
—F. Matthias Alexander (1869–1955) Australian Actor, Educationalist
Habits are formed by the repetition of particular acts. They are strengthened by an increase in the number of repeated acts. Habits are also weakened or broken, and contrary habits are formed by the repetition of contrary acts.
—Mortimer J. Adler (1902–2001) American Philosopher, Educator
Habit is second nature.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
The individual who wants to reach the top in business must appreciate the might of the force of habit and must understand that practices are what create habits. He must be quick to break those habits that can break him and hasten to adopt those practices that will become the habits that help him achieve the success he desires.
—J. Paul Getty (1892–1976) American Business Person, Art Collector, Philanthropist
A habit is something you can do without thinking – which is why most of us have so many of them.
—Frank A. Clark
In truth, the only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeeded lies in the difference of their habits. Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. Thus, the first law I will obey, which precedes all others, is—“I will form good habits and become their slaves.”
—Og Mandino (1923–96) American Self-Help Author
The most effective way I know to begin with the end in mind is to develop a personal mission statement or philosophy or creed. It focused on what you want to be (character) and to do (contributions and achievements) and on the values or principles upon which being and doing are based.
—Stephen Covey (1932–2012) American Self-help Author
Habit is the second nature which destroys the first.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
The unfortunate thing about this world is that good habits are so much easier to give up than bad ones.
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
Habit becomes natural.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Cling tooth and nail to the following rule: Not to give in to adversity, never to trust prosperity, and always to take full note of fortune’s habit of behaving just as she pleases, treating her as if she were actually going to do everything it is in her power to do. Whatever you have been expecting for some time comes as less of a shock.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Motivation gets you going and habit gets you there. Make motivation a habit and you will get there more quickly and have more fun on the trip.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Refrain tonight, and that shall lend a hand of easiness to the next abstinence; the next more easy; for use can almost change the stamp of nature, and either curb the devil, or throw him out with wondrous potency.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The second half of a man’s life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half.
—Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–81) Russian Novelist, Essayist, Writer
Habit is the beneficent harness of routine which enables silly men to live respectably, and unhappy men to live calmly.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
The only difference between a rut and a groove is their dimensions.
—Ellen Glasgow (1873–1945) American Novelist
Habit is a second nature that destroys the first. But what is nature? Why is habit not natural? I am very much afraid that nature itself is only a first habit, just as habit is a second nature.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
When we have practised good actions awhile, they become easy; when they are easy, we take pleasure in them; when they please us, we do them frequently; and then, by frequency of act, they grow into a habit.
—John Tillotson
You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically—to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside. The enemy of the “best” is often the “good”.
—Stephen Covey (1932–2012) American Self-help Author