If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
When you do the wrong thing, knowing it is wrong, you do so because you haven’t developed the habit of effectively controlling or neutralizing strong inner urges that tempt you, or because you have established the wrong habit and don’t know how to eliminate them effectively.
—W. Clement Stone (1902–2002) American Self-help Guru, Entrepreneur
There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
Everyone’s got it in him, if he’ll only make up his mind and stick at it. None of us is born with a stop-valve on his powers or with a set limit to his capacities, There’s no limit possible to the expansion of each one of us.
—Charles M. Schwab (1862–1939) American Businessperson
To exercise some sort of control over others is the secret motive of every selfish person.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author
Firmness of purpose is one of the most necessary sinews of character, and one of the best instruments of success. Without it genius wastes its efforts in a maze of inconsistencies.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
He may be a very nice man. But I haven’t got the time to figure that out. All I know is, he’s got a uniform and a gun and I have to relate to him that way. That’s the only way to relate to him because one of us may have to die.
—James Baldwin (1924–87) American Novelist, Social Critic
If you are ruled by mind you are a king; if by body, a slave.
—Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato) (234–149 BCE) Roman Statesman
If things seem under control, you are just not going fast enough.
—Mario Andretti (b.1940) Italian-born American Sportsperson
He who has the pepper may season as he lists.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
What man’s mind can create, man’s character can control.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
Anyone who in discussion relies upon authority uses, not his understanding, but rather his memory.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
Slight small injuries, and they will become none at all.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
The affairs of life embrace a multitude of interests, and he who reasons in any one of them, without consulting the rest, is a visionary unsuited to control the business of the world.
—James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) American Novelist
Everybody has a hot button. Who is pushing yours? While you probably cannot control that person, you CAN control the way you react to them.
—Unknown
Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes crimes out of things that are not crimes.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Persecutors fear loss of control. Rescuers fear loss of purpose. Rescuers need Victims—someone to protect or fix—to bolster their self-esteem.
—David Emerald
If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
Never allow anyone to rain on your parade and thus cast a pall of gloom and defeat on the entire day. Remember that no talent, no self-denial, no brains, no character, are required to set up in the fault-finding business. Nothing external can have any power over you unless you permit it. Your time is too precious to be sacrificed in wasted days combating the menial forces of hate, jealously, and envy. Guard your fragile life carefully. Only God can shape a flower, but any foolish child can pull it to pieces.
—Og Mandino (1923–96) American Self-Help Author
The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.
—Brennan Manning (1934–2013) American Theologian, Author
A really good detective never gets married.
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959) American Novelist
We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails.
—Anonymous
Authority is never without hate.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
When the fight begins within himself, a man’s worth something.
—Robert Browning (1812–89) English Poet
The measure of greatness in a scientific idea is the extent to which it stimulates thought and opens up new lines of research.
—Paul Dirac (1902–84) English Theoretical Physicist
Authority poisons everybody who takes authority on himself.
—Golda Meir (1898–1978) Israeli Head of State
A wise man who stands firm is a statesman, a foolish man who stands firm is a catastrophe.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
I cannot make the universe obey me. I cannot make other people conform to my own whims and fancies. I cannot make even my own body obey me.
—Thomas Merton (1915–68) American Trappist Monk
We now in the United States have more security guards for the rich than we have police services for the poor districts. If you’re looking for personal security, far better to move to the suburbs than to pay taxes in New York.
—John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) Canadian-Born American Economist
Defend your limitations and you own them!
—Unknown
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