SELF
As I look back on my life, I see it as one long obstacle course with myself as the main obstacle.
—Jack Paar
There are two sins of man that are bred in the bone and that continually come out in the flesh. One is self-dependence and the other is self-exultation.
—Charles H. Spurgeon
The goal of life is not to gain freedom but to find your master.
—P. T. Forsythe
I’ve conquered an empire but I’ve not been able to conquer myself.
—Peter the Great
Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled, stated that after twenty years of psychotherapy he found that people who try to fulfill themselves at the expense of others lose everything and are unfulfilled.
Man is trying to make something for himself rather than something of himself.
—Jascha Heifetz
To be enslaved to oneself is the heaviest of all servitudes.
—Seneca
SELF–CONFIDENCE
Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.
—Samuel Johnson
SELF–CONTROL
Hold tight rein over three T’s—thought, temper, and tongue—and you will have few regrets.
—Teen Esteem
The man who masters himself is free.
—Epictetus
Men are qualified for civil liberties in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains on their own appetites.
—Edmund Burke
Society cannot exist unless a controlling power on will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without.
—Edmund Burke
Choose rather to punish your appetites than be punished by them.
—Magnus Maximus
The Christian philosophy is a philosophy of self-denial, self-control, and self-restraint.
The satanic philosophy is a philosophy of “live as you please,” “have what you want,” “don’t let anyone tell you what to do,” and “it’s your life, you have a right to live it.”
—Bob Jones
Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.
—Seneca
Self-mastery is the essence of heroism.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
SELF–DENIAL
It is when we forget ourselves that we do things that are remembered.
Socrates said, “Know yourself.” Marcus Aurelius said, “Control yourself.” Other orient sages said, “Give yourself.” Jesus said, “Deny yourself.”
Michelangelo was asked why he always wore a miner’s cap when he painted. His reply was that he never wanted a shadow of himself to fall on his canvas.
SELF–DISCIPLINE
No horse gets anywhere until harnessed. No steam or gas ever drives anything until confined. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, and disciplined.
—Harry Emerson Fosdick
In reading about the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves … self-discipline with all of them came first.
—Harry S. Truman
SELF–ESTEEM
Educator and comedian Sam Levinson was standing with a group of men who seemed to tower above him.
Someone asked, “Sam, don’t you feel strange surrounded by so many tall people?”
He replied, “Yes, I do. I feel like a dime among a lot of pennies!”
A psychiatrist said to Ziggy, “You have low self-esteem, but don’t let it bother you because it’s common among losers.”
The most deadly of all possible sins is the mutilation of a child’s spirit.
—Erik Erikson
A recent Harris poll showed that over 90 percent of the people polled would change their lives dramatically if they could, and in most cases they ranked such intangibles as self-respect, affection, and acceptance higher than status, money, and power. They don’t like the way they live now, but they don’t know how to change.
—Warren Bennis
Lack of something to feel important about is almost the greatest tragedy a person may have.
—Arthur E. Morgan
Little Maria Taft was asked who she was. She said, “My great-grandfather was president of the United States, my grandfather was a United States senator from Ohio, my father is the United States ambassador to Ireland, and I’m a Brownie.”
Everybody must be somebody to somebody to be anybody.
Every once in a while ask yourself, “Based on my own work each day, would I hire myself?”
SELFISHNESS
A peevish old fellow boarded a train, occupied the best seat, and then tried to reserve another seat for himself by placing his luggage on it. Just before the crowded vehicle started, a teenage boy came running up and jumped aboard. “This car is full,” said the man irritably; “that seat next to me is reserved for a friend of mine who has put his bag there.” The youth paid no attention but sat down saying, “All right, I’ll stay here until he comes.” He placed the suitcase on his knee while the elderly man glared at him in vain. Of course, the “friend” didn’t appear, and soon the train began to move. As it glided past the platform, the young fellow tossed the bag through the open window remarking, “Apparently your friend has missed the train. We mustn’t let him lose his luggage too!”
A church had a sign in front: “Jesus Only.” One night a storm blew out the first three letters and left “Us Only.” Too many churches have come to that.
—Vance Havner
Two friends decided they would each have filet of sole for their evening meal in the restaurant. After a few minutes the waiter came back with their order. Two pieces of fish, a large and a small, were on the same platter. So one of the men proceeded to serve his friend. Placing the small piece on a plate, he handed it across the table. “Well you certainly do have the nerve!” exclaimed the other. “What is troubling you, old fellow?” asked the other. “Look what you’ve done. You’ve given me the little piece and kept the big one for yourself,” he answered. “How would you have done it?” asked his friend. “If I were serving, I’d have given YOU the big piece.” “Well,” replied the other man, “I’ve got it, haven’t I? What are you kicking about?” At that, they both laughed.
—Our Daily Bread
Patrick Henry shouted, “Give me liberty or give me death.”
The next generation shouted, “Give me liberty.”
The present generation shouts, “Give me.”
People who live for self never succeed in satisfying self or anybody else.
—Trumbull
No man can live happily who regards himself alone, who turns everything to his own advantage. You must live for others, if you wish to live for yourself.
—Bits & Pieces
Character is like chiseling a statue; one has to knock off huge chunks of selfishness, which requires self-discipline. Only then does character begin to emerge.
—Bits & Pieces
SELFLESSNESS
When General Douglas MacArthur was asked, “What is the greatest quality of a leader?” he answered, “Selflessness.”
In 1928 Time magazine encouraged Will Rogers to run for president. When someone asked him, “What is your business?” he answered, “Everybody’s.”
SELF–REALIZATION
Roland Hayes, a famous singer, was scheduled to sing before the king and queen of England. Before the appointed time, he received a telegram from his mother which had just five words: “Roland, remember who you are.”
SELLING
A young man got a job as a salesman with a large insurance company. He was ambitious and applied himself eagerly to the task of learning all the techniques of selling. Yet, despite the fact that he worked hard at it, sales were few and far between. This went on for several weeks before the sales manager finally called him in. “Son,” he said, “I’m afraid you just weren’t cut out to be a salesman. You just don’t seem to be able to sell.”
The young man was surprised. “Oh, that’s not it,” he said. “I’m selling all right. It’s just that people aren’t buying.”