Ethan Canin Quotes

Discipline is not a restriction but an aid to freedom.

I've learned over the years that freedom is just the other side of discipline.

I can have incredible self-discipline. But see, I think it's obviously a form of stupidity.

If you don't have discipline, you don't have anything

So it's always helped me to have a foundation, an ideal to strive for and goals. It's hard for me to be disciplined and plan things.

To be disciplined is to follow in a good way. To be self disciplined is to follow in a better way.

Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing.

And you are never to stir out of doors till you can prove that you have spent ten minutes of every day in a rational manner.

While I am on, I can discipline myself to that extent. When I am off, I can't discipline myself at all. On the other hand, when I am off, there are so many things I like doing, it doesn't really matter.

I sort of have to self-censor sometimes.

There is something good in men that really yearn for discipline.

I had to learn, really, how to rein in my energies and discipline myself. And I found it very very useful. I rebelled against it at first, but it's a good thing to have.

The most important thing about skating is that it teaches you to do the things you should do before you do the things you want to do.

Personal discipline, when it becomes a way of life in our personal, family, and career lives, will enable us to do some incredible things.

I try not to do anything I don't like, so I stay motivated pretty easily.

It is not enough to have great qualities; We should also have the management of them.

Some people regard discipline as a chore. For me, it is a kind of order that sets me free to fly.

Self-reform is the only kind that works.

I think there's some connection between absolute discipline and absolute freedom.

I have certain rules that I've established for myself that took a while post-day job to figure out. Everyone says people who freelance or are writers struggle with the structure of it. I'm not allowed to check email before a certain hour. I'm not allowed to run errands during the day. I have to write a certain amount every day.

I like to work and it kind of keeps me in line, which is very good because I need that structure.

I write at home. I like to be able to take a nap, watch TV, make a sandwich, and if I wake up and don't feel like working, I'm not going to bang my head on my desk all day: I'll go out and do something else.

We deify willpower and self-control - and mock its absence. People who achieve through remarkable willpower are 'strong' and 'heroic.' People who need help or structure are 'weak.' This is crazy - because few of us can accurately gauge or predict our willpower.

We want to design interventions to teach people how to harness their considerable willpower.

My biggest fault? I guess it's a lack of patience - not when I'm working, but when I'm not working.