Robert A. Heinlein Quotes

Whoever wishes to make progress in perfection should use particular diligence in not allowing himself to be led away by his passions, which destroy with one hand the spiritual edifice which is rising by the labors of the other. But to succeed well in this, resistance should be begun while the passions are yet weak; for after they are thoroughly rooted and grown up, there is scarcely any remedy.

They say that people teach what they need to learn. By adopting the role of happiness teacher, if only for myself, I was trying to find the method to conquer my particular faults and limitations.

Learn to self-conquest, persevere thus for a time, and you will perceive very clearly the advantage which you gain from it.

The first and the best victory is to conquer self.

Love yourself and be awake- Today, tomorrow, always. First establish yourself in the way, Then teach others, And so defeat sorrow. To straighten the crooked You must first do a harder thing- Straighten yourself. You are your only master. Who else? Subdue yourself, And discover your master.

Some of us learn control, more or less by accident. The rest of us go all our lives not even understanding how it is possible, and blaming our failure on being born the wrong way.

It is a new road to happiness, if you have strength enough to castigate a little the various impulses that sway you in turn.

You have to build systems to protect against your lesser self.

Emotional self-control is the result of hard work, not an inherent skill.

Victory in physical battles requires strength, muscles, and skill; but the fight is never tougher and victory is never sweeter than in the battles over self.

Take control of your consistent emotions and begin to consciously and deliberately reshape your daily experience of life.

This age thing is all up to you. It's like happiness is up to you. You just have to understand what it is before you get it.

You need to put what you learn into practice and do it over and over again until it's a habit. I always say, 'Seeing is not believing. Doing is believing.' There is a lot to learn about fitness, nutrition and emotions, but once you do, you can master them instead of them mastering you.

My ego every day is more and more polite. I tame it.

Happiness is dependent on self-discipline. We are the biggest obstacles to our own happiness. It is much easier to do battle with society and with others than to fight our own nature.

Who is wise? He that learns from everyone. Who is powerful? He that governs his passions. Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody.

Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult.

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.

There are times I am happy. There are times I am sad. But I always try to separate emotion from the need to reach for something stronger, deeper. And then no matter the emotion, I can reach for a stability that helps me accomplish what is the goal.

We learn the inner secret of happiness when we learn to direct our inner drives, our interest and our attention to something besides ourselves.

The ego is there, but I'm learning to channel it.

You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.

Remain calm, serene, always in command of yourself. You will then find out how easy it is to get along.

I've learned not to be as maniacal as I used to be.

You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing things with logic. True power is restraint. If words control you that means everyone else can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass.