61 Self-Control Quotes That Can Change Your Life

Here’s 61 quotes on self-control.  Which ones jump out at you?

1. Control your destiny or somebody will. -Jack Welsh

2. Rule your mind or it will rule you. -Horace

3. He who reigns within himself, and rules passions, desires, and fears, is more than a king. -John Milton

4. The control centre of your life is your attitude. -Anonymous

5. I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul. -William Henley

6. He who angers you conquers you. -Elizabeth Kenny

7. He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still. -Tao Te Ching

8. Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control–these three alone lead life to sovereign power. -Alfred Tennyson

9. Speak when you are angry and you will make best speech you will ever regret. -Ambrose Bierce

10. You have no control over what the other guy does. You only have control over what you do. -A. J. Kitt

11. What lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do. -Aristotle

12. You can’t always control the wind, but you can control your sails. -Dr. Bob Chope

13. In the midst of movement and chaos keep stillness inside of you. -Deepak Chopra

14. Such power there is in clear-eyed self-restraint. -James Russell Lowell

15. Prudent, cautious self-control, is wisdom’s root. -Robert Burns

16. When we direct our thoughts properly, we can control our emotions. -W. Clement Stone

17. What man’s mind can create, man’s character can control. -Thomas Edison

18. To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart. -Donald Laird

19. When we have begun to take charge of our lives, to own ourselves, there is no longer any need to ask permission of someone. -George O’Neil

20. If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self. -Napoleon Hill

21. The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts. -Charles Darwin

22. No one can make you jealous, angry, vengeful, or greedy–unless you let him. -Napoleon Hill

23. The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you don’t you, life controls you. -Anthony Robbins

24. No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself. -William Penn

25. Not to have control over the senses is like sailing in a rudderless ship, bound to break to pieces on coming in contact with the very first rock. -Mohandas Gandhi

26. Your brain shall be your servant instead of your master. You will rule it instead of allowing it to rule you. -Charles Popplestone

27. You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair. -Chinese Proverb

28. Self-determination is fine but needs to be tempered with self-control. -Anonymous

29. No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change. -Barbara De Angelis

30. Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself. -Elie Wiesel

31. A little kingdom I possess, where thoughts and feelings dwell; And very hard the task I find of governing it well. -Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)

32. Believe that you can whip the enemy, and you have won half the battle. -General J.E.B. Stuart

33. Challenge yourself all the days of your life. -Author Unknown

34. Clean your own yard first before asking others to clean theirs. -Bosnian Proverb

35. Don’t make a mouse of yourself, or else you will be eaten by cats. -German Proverb

36. Don’t speak unless you can improve on the silence. -Spanish Proverb

37. He who cannot obey himself will be commanded. That is the nature of living creatures. -Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

38. He who reins within himself and rules passions, desires, and fears is more than a king. -John Milton (1608-1674)

39. I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self. -Aristotle (BC384-322)

40. I never prod my nose into other man’s porridge. -Miguel De Cervantes (1547-1616)

41. If a man doesn’t delight in himself and the force in him and feel that he and it are wonders, how is all life to become important to him? -Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941)

42. It is as proper to have pride in oneself as it is ridiculous to show it to others. -Francois De La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680)

43. Not to have control over the senses is like sailing in a rudderless ship, bound to break to pieces on coming in contact with the very first rock. -Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

44. Seek always for the answer within. Be not influenced by those around you, by their thoughts or their words. -Eileen Caddy

45. Self-discipline begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you don’t control what you think, you can’t control what you do. Simply, self-discipline enables you to think first and act afterward. -Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)

46. The best time for you to hold your tongue is the time you feel you must say something or bust. -Josh Billings (1815-1885)

47. The first and best victory is to conquer self. To be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and objectionable. -Plato (BC427-347)

48. There never has been, and cannot be, a good life without self-control. -Count Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)

49. We improve ourselves by victories over ourselves. There must be contest, and we must win. -Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)

50. When the fight begins within himself, a man’s worth something. -Robert Browning (1812-1889)

51. Your success depends mainly upon what you think of yourself and whether you believe in yourself. -William Boetcker

52. You must learn to be still in the midst of activity, and to be vibrantly alive in repose. -Indira Gandhi

53. You must have discipline to have fun. -Julia Child

54. The man who masters his own soul will forever be called conqueror of conquerors. -Plautus

55. Temptations come, as a general rule, when they are sought. -Margaret Oliphant

56. When you borrow trouble you give your peace of mind as security. -Myrtle Reed

57. Don’t be curious of matters that don’t concern you; never speak of them, and don’t ask about them. -Teresa of Avila

58. What we do upon some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are; and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline. -H.P. Liddon

59. Superior people never make long visits. -Marianne Moore

60. It isn’t until you come to a spiritual understanding of who you are–not necessarily a religious feeling, but deep down, the spirit within–that you can begin to take control. -Oprah Winfrey

61. Anger is only one letter short of danger. -unknown

THERE YOU HAVE IT.  Which of these self-control quotes did you like the most?   Any you didn’t like?  If you have any quotes on this subject, please share them below in the Comments section.  Thanks!

If you these aren’t enough for you, you can find more here, here, and here.

Shawn B.

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