Saint Augustine Quotes

The mind commands the body, and it obeys forthwith; the mind commands itself, and is resisted. The mind commands the hand to be moved, and such readiness is there that the command is scarce to be distinguished from the obedience. Yet the mind is mind, and the hand is body. The mind commands the mind to will, and yet, though it be itself, it obeyeth not. Whence this monstrous thing? and why is it?

Control exists only when there is action of will, positively or negatively. Will is resistance. When the mind is learning, there is no resistance.

The best way of me not doing things is to demand it from me.

You either control your mind or it controls you.

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

The disciplined are free.

Anything that controls my state of mind I never really want to do because I always want to be under control. That might be part of me being a Virgo. I never want to do something that stops me from being in control of who I am and my actions.

Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not.

Manage yourself first and others will take your orders.

Discipline is creating the situation.

Without discipline, there's no life at all.

There is only one sort of discipline, perfect discipline.

But if I have a lot of imagination, I could tell myself whatever I wanted, you know. I handle myself quite well. I'm kind of fascist with myself, you know. There's no discussion. There is an order. You follow it.

We can endure neither our vices nor the remedies for them.

The surest test of discipline is its absence.

It's easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.

No one is free who does not lord over himself.

I feel I should be doing stupid stuff, but I'm not going to.

There's this idea that, 'All I have at the end of the day is my mind.' That's the only thing you can control. I believe that.

Experience teaches that when the will and imagination are in conflict, the imagination usually wins. What we imagine may defeat our reason and make us slaves to what we taste, see, hear, smell, and feel in the mind's eye. The body is indeed the servant of the mind.

I'm probably more persuasive than the next person if I want to be, but do I want to be? In my head, I just don't go there.

You have two choices: to control your mind or to let your mind control you.

A man who wills commands something within himself that renders obedience, or that he believes renders obedience.

When we say that a man controls himself, we must specify who is controlling whom.

Liberty is the right to discipline ourselves in order not to be disciplined by others