It is the business of this life to make excuses for others, but none for ourselves. We should be clearly persuaded of our own misconduct, for that is the part of knowledge in which we are most apt to be defective.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 1.1 “Justice and Justification”
(Source)
A collection of aphorisms and musings, first published in the Edinburgh Edition of his Works, vol. 28 (1898).
Quotations about:
self-discipline
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
Say farewell to luck when winning: it is the way of the gamblers of reputation: quite as important as a gallant advance is a well-planned retreat, wherefore lock up your winnings when they are enough, or when great.
[Saberse dejar ganando con la fortuna. Es de tahúres de reputación. Tanto importa una bella retirada como una bizarra acometida; un poner en cobro las hazañas cuando fueren bastantes, cuando muchas.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 38 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]
(Source)
(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:To be moderate in good fortune is the part of a good Gamester, when Reputation lies at stake. A brave Retreat is as great as a brave Enterprise. When one hath acted great exploits, he ought to secure the glory of them, by drawing off in time.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]Leave off the game with fortune while you are in luck. -- That is what all the best players do. A fine retreat is worth just as much as a gallant attack. Let a man bring his deeds, when there are a great many and enough of them into safety.
[tr. Duff (1877)]Leave your Luck while Winning. All the best players do it. A fine retreat is as good as a gallant attack. Bring your exploits under cover when there are enough, or even when there are many of them.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]Quit while you're ahead. All the best gamblers do. A fine retreat matters as much as a stylish attack. As soon as they are enough -- even when they are many -- cash in your deeds.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]
The greatest friend of truth is Time, her greatest enemy is Prejudice, and her constant companion is Humility.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 158 (1820)
(Source)
Gold will be slave or master: ’tis more fit
That it be led by us than we by it.[Imperat aut servit collecta pecunia cuique,
tortum digna sequi potius quam ducere funem.]Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 10 “To Aristius Fuscus,” l. 47ff (1.10.47-48) (20 BC) [tr. Conington (1874)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:More worthy to cum after him constrained with a cord,
Then that it shoulde so have the heade, and leade the lowtishe Lorde.
[tr. Drant (1567)]Who ere has Money, either 'tis his Slave,
Or 'tis his Master, as when two men tug
At a Ropes ends: W' are dragg'd unless we drag.
[tr. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]Money must rule, or must obey the Mind,
More fit for Service than for Rule design'd
[tr. Creech (1684)]Gold is the slave, or tyrant, of the soul;
Unworthy to command, it better brooks controul.
[tr. Francis (1747)]That lucre, since it must be slave or lord,
May rather bear, than pull, the servile cord.
[tr. Howes (1845)]Accumulated money is the master or slave of each owner, and ought rather to follow than to lead the twisted rope.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]For hoarded wealth is either slave or lord.
And should itself be pulled, not pull the cord.
[tr. Martin (1881)]Hoarded up wealth, worthy to follow the twisted rope rather than to hold it, commands -- does not serve -- its possessor.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]Money stored up is for each his lord or his slave, but ought to follow, not lead, the twisted rope.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]His master or his slave is each man's hoard,
And ought to follow, not to pull, the cord.
[tr. A. F. Murison (1931)]Money stored up
Is every man's master, or slave. A well-woven rope
Ought to follow and not lead the way.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]The money we amass will either rule or serve us;
we should lead it on a halter, rather than be led.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]Piled-up gold can be master or slave, depending on its owner;
Never let it pull you along, like a goat on a rope.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]The money you have is either your master or slave.
The leash should be held by you, not by your money.
[tr. Ferry (2001)]The money a person amasses can give, or take, orders.
Its proper place is the end of the tow-rope, not the front.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]The money we hoard is our master or our servant:
The twisted rope should trail behind, not draw us on.
[tr. Kline (2015)]
Q. Is it ever acceptable to be rude?
A. No. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to let people walk all over you. Etiquette does not render you defenseless. If it did; even I wouldn’t subscribe to it. But rudeness in retaliation for rudeness just doubles the amount of rudeness in the world.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Interview (2011-08), “Q and A with Miss Manners,” by Arcynta Ali Childs, Smithsonian magazine
(Source)
Perfect valour is to behave, without witnesses, as one would act were all the world watching.
[La parfaite valeur est de faire sans témoins ce qu’on serait capable de faire devant tout le monde.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶216 (1665-1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957)]
(Source)
(Appeared in the 1st (1665) ed. as the similar:[La pure valeur, s’il y en avoit, seroit de faire sans témoins ce qu’on est capable de faire devant le monde.]
(Source (French)). Other translations:Pure Valour, if there were any such thing, would consist in the doing of that without witnesses, which it were able to do, if all the world were to be spectators thereof.
[tr. Davies (1669), ¶117]True Valour would do all that, when alone, that it could do, if all the World were by.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶217]Perfect valour consists in doing without witnesses all we should be capable of doing before the whole world.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶431; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶207; ed. Carvill (1835), ¶367]Perfect valor is to do unwitnessed what we should be capable of doing before all the world.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶225]Perfect valour is to do without witnesses what one would do before all the world.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶216]Perfect valor accomplishes without witnesses what anyone could do before the eyes of the world.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶221]Perfect courage consists in doing unobserved what we could do in the eyes of the world.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶216]Perfect courage means doing unwitnessed what we would be capable of with the world looking on.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶216]Perfect valor consists in doing without witnesses what one would be capable of doing before the world at large.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶216]Perfect bravery is being able to do without witnesses what one would be able to do in front of everyone.
[tr. Siniscalchi (c. 1994)]Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would do before all the world.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶216]Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would be capable of doing with the world looking on.
[Source]
There were all kinds of things of which I was afraid at first, from grizzly bears to “mean” horses and gunfighters, but by acting as if I was not afraid, I gradually ceased to be afraid.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Autobiography, ch. 2 “The Vigor of Life” (1913)
(Source)
To do a job effectively, one must set priorities. Too many people let their “in” basket set the priorities. On any given day, unimportant but interesting trivia pass through an office; one must not permit these to monopolize his time. The human tendency is to while away time with unimportant matters that do not require mental effort or energy. Since they can be easily resolved, they give a false sense of accomplishment. The manager must exert self-discipline to ensure that his energy is focused where it is truly needed.
Hyman Rickover (1900-1986) Polish-American naval engineer, admiral [b. Chaim Gdala Rykower]
Speech (1981-11-05), “Doing a Job,” Egleston Medal Award Dinner, Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science, New York
(Source)
First get an absolute Conquest over thyself, and then thou wilt easily govern thy Wife.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 497 (1725)
(Source)
It is better to be patient than powerful. It is better to win control over yourself than over whole cities.
The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 20. Proverbs 16:32 (Prov 16:32) [tr. GNT (1976)]
(Source)
Alternate translations:He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who ruleth his spirit than he who taketh a city.
[KJV (1611)]Better an equable man than a hero, a man master of himself than one who takes a city.
[JB (1966)]Better an equable person than a hero, someone with self-mastery than one who takes a city.
[NJB (1985)]Better to be patient than a warrior,
[CEB (2011)]One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]Better to be forbearing than mighty,
To have self-control than to conquer a city.
[RJPS (2023 ed.)]
If you suffer distress because of some external cause, it is not the thing itself that troubles you but your judgment on it, and it is within your power to cancel that judgment at any moment.
[Εἰ μὲν διά τι τῶν ἐκτὸς λυπῇ, οὐκ ἐκεῖνό σοι ἐνοχλεῖ, ἀλλὰ τὸ σὸν περὶ αὐτοῦ κρῖμα, τοῦτο δὲ ἤδη ἐξαλεῖψαι ἐπὶ σοί ἐστιν.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 8, ch. 47 (8.47) (AD 161-180) [tr. Hard (1997 ed.)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:If therefore it be a thing external that causes thy grief, know, that it is not that properly that doth cause it, but thine own conceit and opinion concerning the thing: which thou mayest rid thyself of, when thou wilt.
[tr. Casaubon (1634), 8.45]If externals put you into the spleen, take notice 'tis not the thing which disturbs you, but your notion about it: which notion you may dismiss if you please.
[tr. Collier (1701)]If you are grieved about anything external, ’tis not the thing itself that afflicts you, but your judgment about it; and it is in your power to correct this judgment and get quit of it.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]If you are uneasy on account of anything external, be assured, it is not the thing itself that disturbs you, but your opinion concerning it. Now this opinion is in your own power to get rid of, if you please.
[tr. Graves (1792), 8.46]If thou art pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs thee, but thy own judgment about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this judgment now.
[tr. Long (1862), original]If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but your own judgment of them. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now.
[tr. Long (1862), modernized]If anything external vexes you, take notice that it is not the thing which disturbs you, but your notion about it, which notion you may dismiss at once if you please.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]If you are pained by anything without, it is not the thing agitates you, but your own judgment concerning the thing; and this it is in your own power to efface.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]When you are grieved about anything external it is not the thing itself which afflicts you, but your judgment about it. This judgment it is in your power to efface.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]When thou art vexed at some external cross, it is not the thing itself that troubles thee, but thy judgment on it. And this thou canst annul in a moment.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]If you suffer pain because of some external cause, what troubles you is not the thing but your decision about it, and this it is in your power to wipe out at once.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing yourself but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]External things are not the problem. It’s your assessment of them. Which you can erase right now.
[tr. Hays (2003)]If your distress has some external cause, it is not the thing itself that troubles you, but your own judgement of it -- and you can erase this immediately.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]If you suffer distress because of some external cause, it is not the thing itself that troubles you but your judgement about it, and it is within your power to cancel that judgement at any moment.
[tr. Hard (2011 ed.)]
