WILLPOWER QUOTES III

quotations about willpower

Willpower quote

To assert your willpower is simply to make up your mind that you want something, and then refuse to be put off. In short, think about what you want and hold to that thought. Believe in it as a reality, regardless of what may appear to be true. This is willpower in action, and anyone can do it.

PHILLIP COOPER

Secrets of Creative Visualization

Tags: Phillip Cooper


The problem with blaming everything on willpower is that when failure occurs, as it often does, you end up blaming yourself for being weak or inadequate. Willpower is not sprinkled on like fairy dust or granted to the few lucky souls born with the right stuff. Instead, willpower comes from the ways people structure things to stimulate the will--where there is a way, there is a will.

GRAHAM SIMPSON

Spa Medicine: Your Gateway to the Ageless Zone


A man can do what he ought to do; and when he says he cannot, it is because he will not.

JOHANN GOTTLIEB FICHTE

letter, 1791


He who wills believes with a fair amount of certainty that will and action are somehow one; he ascribes the success, the carrying out of the willing, to the will itself, and thereby enjoys an increase of the sensation of power which accompanies all success.

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

Beyond Good and Evil

Tags: Friedrich Nietzsche


Nothing can withstand the power of the human will if it is willing to stake its very existence to the extent of its purpose.

BENJAMIN DISRAELI

attributed, Effortless Willpower

Tags: Benjamin Disraeli


For I am--or I was--one of those people who pride themselves in on their willpower, on their ability to make a decision and carry it through. This virtue, like most virtues, is ambiguity itself. People who believe that they are strong-willed and the masters of their destiny can only continue to believe this by becoming specialists in self-deception. Their decisions are not really decisions at all--a real decision makes one humble, one knows that it is at the mercy of more things than can be named--but elaborate systems of evasion, of illusion, designed to make themselves and the world appear to be what they and the world are not.

JAMES BALDWIN

Giovanni's Room

Tags: James Baldwin


Willpower apparently gets depleted if we use it too much -- a growing body of research shows resisting repeated temptations takes a mental toll.

FISHER FUNDS

"Fisher Funds: Willpower keeps bears at bay", New Zealand Herald, February 5, 2016


Reprogramming your behaviors is critical for achieving change, but what about when you just want to avoid texting your ex on his birthday? You still need willpower to help resist making life's everyday bad decisions.

DARIA MEOLI

"7 Things You Didn't Know About Your Own Willpower", Shape, January 26, 2017


Will without power is like children playing at soldiers.

ALEXANDER FLOHR

The Rovers, or The Double Arrangement


A willing heart adds feather to the heel,
And makes the clown a winged Mercury.

JOANNA BAILLIE

De Montfort


Man liveth from hour to hour, and knoweth not what may happen; Influences circle him on all sides, and yet must he answer for his actions: For the being that is master of himself, bendeth events to his will, But a slave to selfish passions is the wavering creature of circumstance.

MARTIN FARQUHAR TUPPER

Proverbial Philosophy

Tags: Martin Farquhar Tupper


We know what willpower is, but by some misguided conception, many of us believe we have to be a certain type of person, strong, determined, extroverted, to be able to be willful, to exercise willpower. Not so. We all have it and just don't know how to use it.

ROSEMARY ALTEA

You Own the Power

Tags: Rosemary Altea


Most of the time, when you think of willpower, you think of resisting temptation. Those of us who are able to stick to a diet and resist that perfect looking cheesecake sitting on the counter have amazing willpower and you want to be like them. You know you have a chocolate problem, but if only you could have steel reserve, you'd be able to resist. But this is just one aspect of how willpower manifests in your life. Saying yes is often just as important as saying no. When we have a list of tasks to do, but know that we could just watch Netflix all day instead, willpower is what helps you tackle those tasks instead of, or at least before, giving in and watching the latest season of your favorite show. Willpower means doing this especially when you don't want to.

MELODY VAN DE GRAAFF

"The Secret to Creating a Successful Online Business", Huffington Post, March 13, 2017


Willpower is your ability to set a course of action and say, "Engage!" It is the spearhead of self-discipline. It provides an intensely powerful yet temporary boost. Think of it as a one-shot thruster. It burns out quickly, but if directed intelligently, it can provide the burst you need to overcome inertia and create momentum.

JOHN AURTHER

Personality Development


There is only one will -- the Universal Will. In order to make anything happen on this plane, one must align one's self with the Universal Spirit.

DOUGLAS DAVIS

"Willpower", beliefnet, March 17, 2017


If, like me, you made resolutions, they're probably mostly broken by now. Trouble is, the ones we make are hard to keep. I know only too well the only way of achieving my resolve to lose 30 pounds of ugly fat is to cut off my head. Dieting won't do it. No willpower is the problem. Maybe we should give ourselves a break and go for easier resolutions, like abstaining from all green vegetables, and only choking down unhealthy, fat-making, fodder.

PATRICK O'GARA

"The Donald, The Hillary, and resolutions", The Blade, January 11, 2016


Willpower is another important ingredient in self-control. Sticking to one's plan is hard work. Without the willpower to bring about changes, the best laid plans and all the monitoring in the world will not be good enough.

SHAHRAM HESHMAT

Eating Behavior and Obesity


For most of us, the classic test of willpower is resisting temptation, whether the temptress is a doughnut, a cigarette, a clearance sale, or a one-night stand. When people say, "I have no willpower," what they usually mean is, "I have trouble saying no when my mouth, stomach, heart, or (fill in your anatomical part) wants to say yes."

KELLY MCGONIGAL

The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It


Did you know that your willpower is powered by food? No wonder it's so hard to diet. When we don't eat, our willpower goes down the drain. The best cure is a meal rich in protein, which enables the most optimal willpower.

GLEB TSIPURSKY

"7 Research-Backed Ways To Build And Maintain Your Willpower", Elite Daily, February 4, 2016


Acknowledge that willpower is a fickle thing, instead of punishing yourself for lapses in judgment.

JAMIE DUCHARME

"Is This Phenomenon Ruining Your Healthy Diet?", Boston Magazine, March 15, 2017