John Quincy Adams Quotes

My fault, my failure, is not in the passions I have, but in my lack of control of them.

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

Temperance is simply a disposition of the mind which binds the passion.

Control thy passions lest they take vengence on thee.

Only the disciplined ones in life are free. If you are undisciplined, you are a slave to your moods and your passions.

Anyone who seeks to destroy the passions instead of controlling them is trying to play the angel.

Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.

Subdue your passion or it will subdue you.

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

If you want to control other people, first control yourself.

I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself.

No one is free who does not lord over himself.

The art of living consists in knowing which impulses to obey and which must be made to obey.

To enjoy freedom we have to control ourselves.

Self regulation is a myth.

What man's mind can create, man's character can control.

I wasn't blessed with the natural ability to rein myself in.

Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens to the which our wills are gardeners.

He who cannot obey himself will be commanded. That is the nature of living creatures.

If we are not stupid or insincere when we say that the good or ill of man lies within his own will, and that all beside is nothing to us, why are we still troubled?

No one is free who has not obtained the empire of himself.

Little hearts, little souls give little lusts big power. Big hearts give little lusts little power.

When we, through our educational culture, through the media, through the entertainment culture, give our children the impression that human beings cannot control their passions, we are telling them, in effect, that human beings cannot be trusted with freedom.

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.

You can have no dominion greater or less than that over yourself.