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Ralph Waldo Emerson viewed discipline not as rigid control, but as the 'habit of integrity. ' He believed that a disciplined life is one that is consistently aligned with one's highest values. This requires the courage to say 'no' to the distractions of society and the demands of conformity. He famously wrote, 'A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,' but he championed the consistency of character—being the same person in private as you are in public. For Emerson, discipline is the daily practice of 'Self-Reliance,' the commitment to showing up as your authentic self and doing the work you were born to do, regardless of the world's applause or disapproval.
"Every man is a consumer, and ought to be a producer."
"Be not the slave of your own past."
"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn."
"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood."
"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail."
"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late."
"The soul's emphasis is always right."
"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."
"The ancestor of every action is a thought."
"The world belongs to the energetic."
"The good mind chooses what is positive, what is advancing—embraces the affirmative."
"Insist on yourself; never imitate."
"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you."
"Greatness is a property for which no man can receive credit too soon; it must be possessed by the individual."
"He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life."
"Concentration is the secret of strength in politics, in war, in trade, in short in all management of human affairs."
"What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think."
"The sum of wisdom is, that the time is never lost that is devoted to work."
"Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist."
"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow."
"The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet."
"Character is higher than intellect."
"Do the thing and you will have the power."
"Discontent is the want of self-reliance: it is infirmity of will."
"The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it."
"Knowledge is the knowing that we can not know."
"Power is in nature the essential measure of right."
"Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect."
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could."
"A man is what he thinks about all day long."
"A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud."
"Do the thing and you shall have the power."
"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself."
"Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it."
"Self-trust is the first secret of success."
Seeing how Ralph Waldo Emerson approaches Discipline helps you apply the idea with more precision.
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