Quotes on Self-Discipline

Only the disciplined are truly free.  The undisciplined are slaves to moods, appetites, and passions.

— Stephen Covey 

Self-discipline begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you don’t control what you think you can’t control what you do. 

— Napoleon Hill

No man is free who is not master of himself. 
—Epictetus  

The first and best victory is to conquer self. 
— Plato 

Rule your mind or it will rule you.
—Horace

Freedom is not procured by full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling that desire. 
—Epictetus

I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; the hardest victory is the victory over self. 
— Aristotle

The one quality which sets one man apart from another, the key which lifts one to every aspiration, while others are caught up in the mire of mediocrity – is not talent, formal education, nor intellectual brightness. It is self-discipline. With self-discipline all things are possible. Without it, even the simplest goal can seem like the impossible dream.

​— Theodore Roosevelt

Leaders aren't born they are made.  And they are made just like anything else, through hard work.  And that's the price we have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal. 
— Vince Lombardi

Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain. Its qualities are sacrifice and self-denial. Also, most importantly, it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in. It's a state of mind-you could call it character in action. 
— Vince Lombardi

If we don't discipline ourselves, the world will do it for us.
— William Feather

Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.
— H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

 A man without decision of character can never be said to belong to himself . . . . He belongs to whatever can make captive of him.
— John Foster

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself, and be lenient to everybody else.
— Henry Ward Beecher

 Nobody's a natural. You work hard to get good and then work to get better.
— Paul Coffey