The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence, but in the mastery, of his passions.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
A little kingdom I possess,
Where thoughts and feelings dwell;
And very hard the task I find
Of governing it well.
—Louisa May Alcott (1832–88) American Novelist
How like herrings and onions our vices are in the morning after we have committed them.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
It isn’t until you come to a spiritual understanding of who you are—not necessarily a religious feeling, but deep down, the spirit within—that you can begin to take control.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
What makes resisting temptation difficult for many people is they don’t want to discourage it completely.
—Franklin P. Jones
The best time for you to hold your tongue is the time you feel you must say something or bust. – Billings, Josh
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
For every man there exists a bait which he cannot resist swallowing.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Not using faults does not mean that one does not have them.
—Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Poet
What man’s mind can create, man’s character can control.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
I will not be a slave to myself, for it is a perpetual, a shameful, and the most heavy of all servitudes; and this end I may gain by moderate desires.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
One of the most important, but one of the most difficult things for a powerful mind is, to be its own master. A pond may lie quiet in a plain; but a lake wants mountains to compass and hold it in.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbow’d.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Lies but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
—William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) English Poet, Critic, Editor
The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
He that lays down precepts for the government of our lives and moderating our passions, obliges human nature not only in the present but in all succeeding generations.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself.
—Pietro Aretino (1492–1556) Italian Poet, Dramatist, Satirist
When the fight begins within himself, a man’s worth something.
—Robert Browning (1812–89) English Poet
The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.
—Charles Darwin (1809–82) English Naturalist
The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
Concern should drive us into action and not into a depression. No man is free who cannot control himself.
—Karen Horney (1885–1952) German-born American Psychoanalyst
I have been my own disciple and my own master. And I have been a good disciple but a bad master.
—Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Poet
Heaven is on the other side of that feeling you get when you’re sitting on the couch and you get up and make a triple-decker sandwich. It’s on the other side of that, when you don’t make the sandwich. It’s about sacrifice…. It’s about giving up the things that basically keep you from feeling. That’s what I believe, anyway. I’m always asking, “What am I going to give up next?” Because I want to feel.
—Jim Carrey (b.1962) Canadian Actor, Comedian
The man who masters his own soul will forever be called conqueror of conquerors.
—Plautus (Titus Maccius Plautus) (c.250–184 BCE) Roman Comic Playwright
Let not any one say that he cannot govern his passions, nor hinder them from breaking out and carrying him to action; for what he can do before a prince or a great man, he can do alone, or in the presence of God if he will.
—John Locke (1632–1704) English Philosopher, Physician
Abstainer: A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self. So you have to begin there, not outside, not on other people. That comes afterward, when you’ve worked on your own corner.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
All men are tempted. There is no man that lives that can’t be broken down, provided it is the right temptation, put in the right spot.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
He that would govern others, first should be the master of himself, richly endued with depth of understanding and height of knowledge.
—Philip Massinger (1583–1640) English Playwright
If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer