Quotes About Self-Control

An element of abstention, of restraint, must enter into all finer joys. ~Vida D. Scudder

Not using faults does not mean that one does not have them. ~Antonio Porchia

The trouble with resisting temptation is it may never come your way again. ~Korman’s Law

There is no allurement or enticement, actual or imaginary, which a well-disciplined mind may not surmount. The wish to resist more than half accomplishes the object. ~Charlotte Dacre

Most people want to be delivered from temptation but would like it to keep in touch.~Robert Orben

Nothing makes it easier to resist temptation than a proper bringing-up, a sound set of values – and witnesses. ~Franklin P. Jones

About the only time losing is more fun than winning is when you’re fighting temptation.~Tom Wilson

There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable. ~Mark Twain

Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it. ~Thomas Jefferson

If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins. ~Benjamin Franklin

A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is…. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. ~C.S. Lewis

Opportunity may knock only once, but temptation leans on the doorbell. ~Author Unknown

You are a puppet, but in the hands of the infinite, which may be your own. ~Antonio Porchia, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

Abstainer, n. A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.~Ambrose Bierce, 1911

What is self-control?
Self-control is a set of behaviors which:

• Accepts the reality that the only thing in life which you can successfully change and control is yourself.

• Keeps in check all self-destructive, addictive, obsessive, compulsive, irrational, and unacceptable behaviors.

• Gives you a sense of personal mastery, autonomy, and competency over your own life.

• Is under your control and power to direct and orchestrate with no need for interference or manipulation from others.

• Makes you the master of your own destiny because it keeps in check those barriers and obstacles which are a threat to your overall success in life.

• Is a middle ground between perfectionism and laxity in self care.

• Results in your life having a balance and focus by helping you to cope with new challenges in life as they come.

• Helps you to keep your over-emotional responses in check or moderation.

• Helps you to open yourself up from nonfeeling or pulled-in emotions so that you can have a healthy emotional life.

• Is the foundation for healthy coping and contributes to your accepting personal responsibility for your life.

• Keeps your life in moderation, helping you to avoid extremes in any direction.

• Is the focus of the efforts to let go of the uncontrollables and unchangeables in your life so that you can concentrate on yourself.

• Eliminates the need for you to be manipulative, helpless, fixing others, intimidating, overdependent or a caretaker of others.

• Helps you to be detached from others and to keep your relationships in a healthy balance of give and take.

• Reflects your inner desire to grow up into a mature, responsible adult.