#selfrestraint — Public Fediverse posts

A quotation from The Bible

A hasty quarrel sparks a fire,
   and hasty conflict sheds blood.
If you blow on a spark, it will flame up,
   and if you spit on it, it will go out;
   nonetheless, both come out
   of your mouth.
 
[ἔρις κατασπευδομένη ἐκκαίει πῦρ,
καὶ μάχη κατασπεύδουσα ἐκχέει αἷμα.
ἐὰν φυσήσῃς εἰς σπινθῆρα, ἐκκαήσεται,
καὶ ἐὰν πτύσῃς ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν, σβεσθήσεται·
καὶ ἀμφότερα ἐκ τοῦ στόματός σου ἐκπορεύεται.]

The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 22b. Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 28:11ff (Sir 28:11–12) [tr. CEB (2011)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/bible-ot/85373/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bible #oldtestament #apocrypha #ecclesiasticus #sirach #antagonize #argument #calmdown #deescalation #dispute #escalation #fight #quarrel #selfrestraint #verbalabuse #violence #words #peacemaking

Having to make a conscious effort not to respond to a nasty post.

Temperance I sometimes find difficult to exercise, but it is a virtue that I must cultivate.

Image: Temperance --Vittore Carpaccio (Italian, 1460–1526) -- ca. 1525 -- oil on wood panel.

#Temperance #SelfRestraint #Virtues #SocialMedia

Today I've been *very* good and instead of cutting myself a new shirt I've picked up the twine braids I did maybe two years ago and started sewing the soles for a new pair of slippers, so that when the current ones self destructs I won't have to make new ones in a hurry.

The first part of the sewing has been done on one sole, now I'd really want to do something easier in the evening, but if I keep working on the second sole I can bring it down to the point where it's more contained, without a long tail to manage.

But I'd really want to do be sewing something else!

#selfRestraint #forwardThinking #TheShirtWillComeNext #OhWillIt!

In a stunning display of self-restraint, U.S. #Senators have heroically decided to stop themselves from profiting off prediction markets, because nothing says "public service" like giving up their side hustle. 🤑💼 Meanwhile, we all know they’ll find a new loophole by next Tuesday. 🙄🔄
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/senators-vote-to-ban-themselves-from-trading-on-prediction-markets-ae4535dd #selfrestraint #publicservice #predictions #loopholes #HackerNews #ngated

A quotation from Adlai Stevenson

The United States has very large power in the world today. And the partner of power — the corollary — is responsibility. It is our high task to use our power with a sure hand and a steady touch — with the self-restraint that goes with confident strength. The purpose of our power must never be lost in the fact of our power — and the purpose, I take it, is the promotion of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech (1952-08-27), “The Nature of Patriotism,” American Legion Convention, Madison Square Garden, New York City

More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-adlai-ewin…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #adlaistevenson #America #confidence #foreignaffairs #foreignrelations #freedom #internationalaffairs #internationalrelations #justice #peace #power #responsibility #selfrestraint

A quotation from Marcus Aurelius

Do not forget you are like the rest of the world, and faulty yourself in a great many instances: that though you may forbear from some errors, it is not for want of inclination, and that nothing but cowardice, vanity, or some such base principle hinders you from sinning.
 
[καὶ αὐτὸς πολλὰ ἁμαρτάνεις καὶ ἄλλος τοιοῦτος εἷ: καὶ εἴ τινων δὲ ἁμαρτημάτων ἀπέχῃ, ἀλλὰ τήν γε ἕξιν ἐποιστικὴν ἔχεις, εἰ καὶ διὰ δειλίαν ἢ δοξοκοπίαν ἢ τοιοῦτό τι κακὸν ἀπέχῃ τῶν ὁμοίων ἁμαρτημάτων.]

Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 11, ch. 18 (11.18) (AD 161-180) [tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/marcus-aureleus/8169…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #marcusaurelius #marcusaureliusmeditations #humility #humbleness #error, fear #motivation #selfawareness #selfevaluation #selfrestraint #shame #sinfulness

A quotation from Euripides

NURSE: Terrible is the temperament of royalty,
   Who are rarely controlled, always imperious;
   It is hard for them to give up their wrath.
   To get used to living like everybody else
   Is better.
 
[ΤΡΟΦΌΣ: δεινὰ τυράννων λήματα καί πως
   ὀλίγ᾽ ἀρχόμενοι, πολλὰ κρατοῦντες
   χαλεπῶς ὀργὰς μεταβάλλουσιν.
   τὸ γὰρ εἰθίσθαι ζῆν ἐπ᾽ ἴσοισιν
   κρεῖσσον.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 119ff (431 BC) [tr. Podlecki (1989)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/euripides/80529/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #euripides #medea #absolutepower #abuseofpower #anger #badmood #badtemper #compromise #equality #power #rage #royalty #selfcontrol #selfrestraint #temper #temperament #tyrant #indignation #grudge #wrath #tantrum

A quotation from John Adams

It is in vain to Say that Democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious or less avaricious than Aristocracy or Monarchy. It is not true in Fact and no where appears in history. Those Passions are the same in all Men under all forms of Simple Government, and when unchecked, produce the same Effects of Fraud Violence and Cruelty. When clear Prospects are opened before Vanity, Pride, Avarice or Ambition, for their easy gratification, it is hard for the most considerate Phylosophers and the most conscientious Moralists to resist the temptation. Individuals have conquered themselves, Nations and large Bodies of Men, never.

John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Letter (1814-12-17) to John Taylor

More about this quote: wist.info/adams-john/49248/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #johnadams #ambition #aristocracy #avarice #democracy #greed #humancondition #humannature #mob #monarchy #pride #temptation #vanity #selfcontrol #selfrestraint

A quotation from Horace

Anger’s a short frenzy, curb thy Soul,
And check thy rage, which must be rul’d or rule:
Use all thy Art, with all thy force restrain,
And take the strongest Bit, and firmest Rein.
 
[Ira furor brevis est: animum rege; qui nisi paret
imperat; hunc frenis, hunc tu compesce catena.]

Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 2 “To Lollius,” l. 62ff (1.2.62) (20 BC) [tr. Creech (1684)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/1953/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #anger #badtemper #fury #insanity #madness #rage #selfcontrol #selfrestraint #tantrum #temper #wrath

knowledge is power,
but access ain't permission.
ethics asks restraint.

#haiku #senryu #poem #ShortPoem #SmallPoem #SmallPoems #knowledge #power #restraint #SelfRestraint #ethics

A quotation from Bernard Levin

   Almost all of us want to be richer than we are, even if we are very rich indeed. To be sure, there are exceptions; saints, ascetics, those who travel light and will not add even the weight of a wallet, a few whose material ambitions are fully satisfied and who therefore truly want nothing further. But the rest of us want more than we have, and the specially thoughtful sometimes wonder whether there could ever come a time when we didn’t.
   The crucial question, though, leaving out of consideration the exempted categories, is: what are we willing to do to increase our wealth?

Bernard Levin (1928-2004) British journalist, critic, broadcaster, satirist
Essay (1989-03-23), “Do You Seriously Want to Be Swindled?” The Times, London

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/levin-bernard/78387/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bernardlevin #avarice #ethics #greedy #limits #morals #profit #prosperity #richest #selfrestraint #wealth

A quotation from J. M. Barrie

The best of our fiction is by novelists who allow that it is as good as they can give, and the worst by novelists who maintain that they could do much better if only the public would let them.

J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Essay (1891-03), “Mr. Kipling’s Stories,” Contemporary Review, Vol. 59

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/barrie-james/78213/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #jmbarrie #author #dedication #effort #publicopinion #selfrestraint #writing

A quotation from Joseph Joubert

My dreams are more amorous than my actions have ever been.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1805 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/joubert-joseph/77274…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joubert #actions #amorousness #dreams #selfrestraint #lust #sexualfantasy #sexuality

A quotation from Josh Billings

Patience will tire out ennything but musketoes.
 
[Patience will tire out anything but mosquitoes.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/billings-josh/76795/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #discipline #endurance #patience #selfrestraint #annoyance

A quotation from Ambrose Bierce

PATIENCE, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Patience,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/bierce-ambrose/74496…

#quote #quotes #quotation #abiding #composure #despair #forbearance #fortitude #patience #perseverance #selfrestraint #virtue #waiting #hopelessness #despondency #givingup

A quotation from Steven Moffat

JEFF: You’re not ready for the Giggle Loop. […] Basically, it’s like a feedback loop. You’re somewhere quiet. There’s people. It’s a — it’s a solemn occasion. A wedding. No — it’s a minute’s silence for someone who’s died. […] Minute’s silence ticking away. Tick. Tick. Tick. The Giggle Loop begins. Suddenly, out of nowhere, this thought comes into your head: the worst thing I could possibly do during a minute’s silence is laugh. (Overturns an empty beer glass) And as soon as you think that, you almost do laugh, automatic reaction. But you don’t, you control yourself. You’re fine. Whoo — but then you think how terrible it would have been if you’d laughed out loud in the middle of a minute’s silence. And so you nearly do it again, only this time it’s a bigger laugh. (Stacks a beer glass on top of the first one) And then you think how awful this bigger laugh would have been. And so you nearly laugh again, only this time it’s a very big laugh. (Stacks another glass) It’s an enormous laugh! Let this bastard out, and you get whiplash! (Stacks another glass) Suddenly, you’re in the middle of this completely silent room (Stacks another glass) and your shoulders are going like you’re drilling the road! And what do you think of this situation? Oh, dear Christ, you think it’s funny!

Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Coupling, 01×03 “Sex, Death and Nudity” (2000-05-26)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/moffat-steven/74360/

#quote #quotes #quotation #embarrassment #escalation #feedbackloops #funeral #giggling #giggleloop #laughter #propriety #selfcontrol #selfrestraint #spiral

@samuelpepys

What a wonderful passage by our friend Mr #Pepys. He fears he was too unrestrained with the priest, and his admission of that fear is covered by layer upon layer of #hesitation and grammatical #SelfRestraint.

- it comes to my mind ...
- to observe ...
- that I sense ...
- to have been a little ...

... too free. Finally it has come out: "I have been too free."

In the construction "I observe ... that I sense", #introspection becomes sentence structure, #diary becomes #style.