Every time I say 'no' to a small temptation, I strengthen my will to say 'no' to a greater one.
Interpretation
Resisting small temptations builds self-control for larger challenges.
This quote highlights the importance of self-discipline and the idea that small choices act as building blocks for our greater abilities. By saying 'no' to minor temptations, we effectively train our willpower, making it easier to resist more significant challenges in the future. It suggests a cumulative benefit to exercising self-control, reinforcing our capacity to handle larger moral or ethical dilemmas.
In practice
In a motivational speech about self-discipline.
I am not like a pebble on the beach - a grain of sand on the seashore or just one of millions of human beings past, present and future. No, I am a unique human being loved by God as if I were an only child - the only fruit of his creative powers.
I must not permit the evil capabilities of human nature to sour my faith in the tremendous good that is possible despite the frailty of that nature.
The sinner who suddenly realizes God's love for him and then looks at his rejection of that love feels a loss similar to the death of a loved one. A deep void is created in the soul and a loneliness akin to the agony of death.
Our memories are our own, and we cannot blame anything or anyone in the past for any pain dwelling there. If we open the door to them or keep hashing over past incidents in our minds, we have only ourselves to blame.
Man can and does rationalize his sins. He finds reasons for all his weakness, invents excuses that first calm and then deaden his conscience. He blames God, society, education, and environment for his wrong doing.
Love has been defined, analyzed, explained and excused. It has been the cause of wars, feuds, heroism, martyrdom, inordinate passion, and beautiful friendships. It pulls two people of opposite temperaments together into a married state and permits them to live happily. It makes friends understand each other without the necessity of words.
Embrace bad news to learn where you need the most improvement.
It is a great thing to know your vices.
If you want to make life easy, make it hard.
Expect poison from the standing water.
It's important that we share our experiences with other people. Your story will heal you and your story will heal somebody else. When you tell your story, you free yourself and give other people permission to acknowledge their own story
For a stalk to grow or a flower to open there must be time that cannot be forced; nine months must go by for the birth of a human child; to write a book or compose music often years must be dedicated to patient research ...To find the mystery there must be patience, interior purification, silence, waiting.
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