Quotes & Sayings About Having Willpower

The free-will of man cannot impune the sovereignty of God, and conversely the sovereignty of God would not impune the free-will of men. — R. Alan Woods

You have to go head, even if no one goes with you. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Our world isn't about ideology anymore. It's about complexity. We live in a complex bureaucratic state with complex laws and complex business practices, and the few organizations with the corporate willpower to master these complexities will inevitably own the political power. On the other hand, movements like the Tea Party more than anything else reflect a widespread longing for simpler times and simple solutions - just throw the U.S. Constitution at the whole mess and everything will be jake. For immigration, build a big fence. Abolish the Federal Reserve, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Education. At times the overt longing for simple answers that you get from Tea Party leaders is so earnest and touching, it almost makes you forget how insane most of them are. — Matt Taibbi

Lately I was near the beehives and some of the bees flew onto my face. I wanted to raise my hand, and brush them off. 'No,' said a peasant to me, 'do not be afraid, and do not touch them. They will not sting you at all, if you touch them they will bite you.' I trusted him; not one bit me. Trust me; do not fear these temptations. Do not touch them; they will not hurt you. — Francis De Sales

Willpower is a concentration of force. You gather up all your energy and make a massive thrust forward. — Steve Pavlina

One part of love is sweet and easy, something we fall into and are swept away by. But the other part is hard: it requires discipline, willpower, and opening your heart again and again to someone with whom you are angry, can't stand, and do not like. — Sam Keen

Somewhere among them - those green and untested boys - lay much of the stock from which he would have to select a crew capable of going all the way. The trick would be to find which few of them had the potential for raw power, the nearly superhuman stamina, the indomitable willpower, and the intellectual capacity necessary to master the details of technique. And which of them, coupled improbably with all those other qualities, had the most important one: the ability to disregard his own ambitions, to throw his ego over the gunwales, to leave it swirling in the wake of his shell, and to pull, not just for himself, not just for glory, but for the other boys in the boat. — Daniel James Brown

Since procrastination is a message from our natural willpower via low motivation, the cure is changing the environment, or one's profession, by selecting one in which one does not have to fight one's impulses. Few can grasp the logical consequence that, instead, one should lead a life in which procrastination is good, as a naturalistic-risk-based form of decision making. — Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The future of Japan's economic growth depends on us having the willpower and the courage to sail without hesitation onto the rough seas of global competition. — Shinzo Abe

My body really, really wanted to reproduce when I was 15. It took a lot of civilization, socialization, willpower and some emulsion polymerization technology for me not to reproduce at 15. — Penn Jillette

Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top; it is the willpower that is the most important. This willpower you cannot buy with money or be given by othersit rises from your heart. — Junko Tabei

Humans have continued to evolve quite a lot over the past ten thousand years, and certainly over 100 thousand. Sure, our biology affects our behavior. But it's unlikely that humans' early evolution is deeply relevant to contemporary psychological questions about dating or the willpower to complete a dissertation. — Annalee Newitz

People talked about therapy and change and the power of Christ, but maybe you just had to wake up one day and say you weren't going to do it anymore, you just weren't going to act like someone who felt that way, and you had to begin by saying words that felt strange on your tongue, even if they resonated inside your heart. — Christopher Rice

If you have given up something many times over then you are strong-willed in having done it so many times over! — Stephen Richards

He beguiled me almost by surprise into doing wrong, then he got me accustomed to having bad thoughts which I had no will to resist - willpower being the only force capable of driving them back to the infernal darkness from which they emerged. — Marcel Proust

You need a good support system when you're trying to make positive lifestyle changes. If everyone is eating burgers and fries while you're having fish and salad, it's easy to lose your willpower. — Bob Harper

The difference in sex does not hinder the ability of being strong on the levels of thinking, giving, having a strong willpower and the ability to take the right decision and the right position after studying all options, once the circumstances that favor creativity and rational thinking are available. — Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah

He (Kris Medlin) has a communication with a force in pitching that most of us can't talk to. It's an awareness; it's a sixth sense. When he steps in and stares in to that catcher, that little man on his shoulder's going to take over and tell him what to do. And he's done it well. — Don Sutton

Mischel refers to this skill as the "strategic allocation of attention," and he argues that it's the skill underlying self-control. Too often, we assume that willpower is about having strong moral fiber. But that's wrong. Willpower is really about properly directing the spotlight of attention, learning how to control that short list of thoughts in working memory. It's about realizing that if we're thinking about the marshmallow, we're going to eat it, which is why we need to look away. — John Brockman

She doesn't have to stay locked into place, into this mournful, drawn-out, low-grade misery. She has all kinds of choices and possibilities, and the only thing that's keeping her away from them is lack of willpower. — Margaret Atwood

Don Marquis came down after a month on the wagon, ambled over to the bar, and announced, 'I've conquered that goddamn willpower of mine. Gimme a double Scotch. — E.B. White

I was in uniform for four years, and I know that heroism doesn't occur from taking orders, but rather from people who through their own willpower and strength are willing to sacrifice their lives for an idea. — Thor Heyerdahl

Willpower will never succeed in dealing with the deeply ingrained habits of sin. Emmet — Richard J. Foster

Emma knew what was going to happen if she didn't break away, and she used every shred of her willpower to turn from Steven and run through the daisies, her arms outspread. She'd gone only a few yards when she stumbled over something and went sprawling. She was laughing when she rolled over and started to sit up, and her plump breasts strained against her bodice. Before she could begin the arduous process of untangling herself from her skirts and struggling back to her feet, Steven was kneeling beside her on the ground. He reached out slowly to touch her braid. "God in heaven, but you're beautiful," he rasped, and it was as though he begrudged the words. "Who are you, Emma? Where did you come from?" She — Linda Lael Miller

Excess exercise tends to be counterbalanced by excess hunger, exemplified by the phrase 'working up an appetite.' A few people with extraordinary willpower can resist such hunger day after day, but for the vast majority, weight loss through exercise is a flawed option. — Andrew Weil

Willpower and dedication are good words' Roland remarked 'There's a bad one, though, that means the same thing. That one is obsession — Stephen King

Often girls feel deeply cared about as small children but then find as we develop willpower and independent thought that the world stops affirming us, that we are seen as unlovable. — Bell Hooks

enjoyment from the task: to spend his (limited) time doing things he doesn't enjoy makes no sense when he could instead do them enjoyably. Moreover, an enjoyable task requires little willpower: you are drawn to the task rather than having to push yourself. Indeed, a task can even be restorative and energizing; rather than draining you, a task approached properly can provide both enjoyment and a satisfying sense of fulfillment. — Michael Ham

A big part of willpower is having something to aspire to, something to live for. — Mark Shuttleworth

It's not just a matter of poor willpower on the part of the consumer and a give-the-people-what-they-want attitude on the part of the food manufacturers. What I found, over four years of research and reporting, was a conscious effort ... to get people hooked on foods that are convenient and inexpensive. — Michael Moss

We made a rule," I whispered.
"Unlike you, I don't follow rules." He didn't give me a chance to respond. His lips met mine and stole my willpower. — Kasie West

I learned during the three weeks after my surgery that when you are in rehab, willpower and determination are key. — Peter Kavanagh

At the end of the day, I don't need to work, and I think it's good that I have the drive and willpower to get up and do something in the morning even though I don't need to. — Petra Stunt

Exercising will builds esteem from within through action on one's own behalf; it disproves the premise that only another person can provide it. The result, long in coming and always worth the effort, is the experience of authentic agency in your own life, a sense of self that cannot be destroyed because it is not dependent on anyone else. — Jeanne Safer

Willpower is a learnable skill, something that can be taught the same way kids learn to do math and say thank you. — Charles Duhigg

Without another word he slid toward me, slipped his arms around me, and drew me forward into a kiss. Our lips met and the jolt of electricity I felt in my stomach dwarfed every kiss I'd imagined us having. My willpower broke, swept away by the force of my feelings. For one moment, nothing was real beyond that kiss. — Jennifer Quintenz

If you feel stronger and good when the weather is sunny, and weaker and bad when the weather is cloudy, then it means your willpower is not powerful yet! — Mehmet Murat Ildan

I once wrote a book on courage and what made people courageous. I found it was a strength of belief matched by a strength of willpower. — Gordon Brown

Oh, Pandora. Where's your willpower? You were told not to open that box, you snoopy girl, you typical woman with your insatiable curiosity; now look what you've gone and done. When for one thing it was a jar, not a box, and for another - how many times does she have to say it? - nobody said a word about not opening it! — Liane Moriarty

True and lasting motivation can't, unfortunately, come from outside. It must arise from a very deep place within us. This life-changing motivation verily forces its way out of us, demanding that we take action. That is the motivation that propels people to monumental acts of courage, willpower, perseverance, and, ultimately, change. — Jim Taylor

Still I kept walking. I walked and walked. And from time to time I stopped and said to myself: Wake up, Auxilio. Nobody can endure this. And yet I knew I could endure it. So I baptized my right leg Willpower and my left leg Necessity. And I endured. — Roberto Bolano

In Zen you practice zazen, mindfulness and other forms of introspection to find out who you are and what you want, to balance your spirit, develop willpower, increase your sense of humor and gain wisdom. — Frederick Lenz

True endurance, I think, comes from the inside. It comes from motivation and belief in what you're doing. — Neil Strauss

But the restlessness Quentin had been conscious of last night had shifted abruptly into a deep, cold sense of foreboding this morning when Diana had opened her eyes so suddenly to make an eerily familiar statement.

"It's coming."

And it had required all his willpower to allow her to leave his sight. To walk away from him, back up the well-lit paths to her cottage in order to change. Because that was exactly what Missy had said to him twenty-five years before.

The last time he had seen her alive. — Kay Hooper

I think the hardest part of being a teenage, or any age really, is the misconception that you're alone. You're not alone. You're not the only one going through what you're going through, and life does get better if you want it to. — Ellie Elisabeth

A very fine artist can take something quite ordinary and, through sheer artistry and willpower, turn it into a work of art. — Truman Capote

Sexual overindulgence may not only destroy reason and willpower, but it may also lead to either temporary or permanent mental dysfunction. — Napoleon Hill

Believe in your own identity and your own opinions. Proceed with confidence, generating it, if necessary, by pure willpower. Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it. Use its energy to keep yourself going. — William Zinsser