Self-Mastery
1. Watch your thoughts, for they become words
Watch your words, for they become actions
Watch your actions, because they become habits
Watch your habits, because they become character
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny
– Unknown – possibly from Mahatma Gandhi
2. Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.
– Rumi
3. The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.
– Anna Quindlen
4. I asked for wisdom… And God gave me problems to solve.
I asked for prosperity… And God gave me brains and the strength to work.
I asked for courage…And God gave me danger to overcome.
I asked for love… And God gave me troubled people to help.
I asked for favors… And God gave me opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted.
I received everything I needed.
My Prayer has been answered.
– Anon, of Islamic source
5. One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.
– Leonardo da Vinci
6. When you can’t control what’s happening, challenge yourself to control the way you respond to what’s happening. That’s where your power is.
– Unknown
7. Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.
– Lao Tzu
8. You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to suf.
– Unknown
9. If we don’t discipline ourselves, the world will do it for us.
– William Feather
10. No man is free who is not master of himself.
– Epectitis
11. I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.
– Billie Jean King
12. Self mastery is the ability to make the most out of your physical, mental and spiritual health. In other words, to be the best you can be.
– Paul Jerard
13. You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.
– Marcus Aurelius
14. There are things about ourselves that we need to get rid of; there are things we need to change. But at the same time, we do not need to be too desperate, too ruthless, too combative. Along the way to usefulness and happiness, many of those things will change themselves, and the others can be worked on as we go. The first thing we need to do is recognize and trust our own Inner Nature, and not lose sight of it.
– Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
15. People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you’ve got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway.
– Mother Theresa
16. I don’t worry about the storms, I am learning to sail my own ship.
– Louisa May Alcott
17. He who knows others is learned;
He who knows himself is wise.
– Lao Tzu, Dao te Ching,
18. Try not to become a (person) of success but rather try to become a (person) of value.
– Albert Einstein
19. Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
– Helen Keller
20. There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self.
– Benjamin Franklin
21. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
– Eleanor Roosevelt
22. All of your scholarship, all your study of Shakespeare and Wordsworth would be vain if at the same time you did not build your character and attain mastery over your thoughts and your actions.
– Mahatma Gandhi
23. A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline, fortitude and integrity can do a great deal to make a woman beautiful.
– Jacqueline Bisset
24. The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
– Mark Twain
25. If I were given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation, it would be the ability for each individual to learn to laugh at himself.
– George Schultz
26. The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies and no excuses. No one to lean on, rely on or blame.
– Epectitus
27. A moment of patience in a moment of anger saves you 100 moments of regret.
– Unknown
28. I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.
– Edward Everett Hale
29. Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.
– Jim Rohn