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Hard is it to correct a habit already formed.
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“Hard is it to correct a habit already formed.”

Publilius Syrus

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Source
The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus
Date
1856 translation
English wording
Darius Lyman — Translator · from Latin
Meaning

Meaning of “Hard is it to correct a habit already…”

Repeated behavior becomes easier to continue and harder to reverse, which makes early choices about habit formation especially consequential.

Source context

Where does it come from?

The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, maxim 11, in Darius Lyman’s 1856 English rendering; maxim order can vary across editions.

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Themes

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CalmChange and GrowthConsistencyDiscipline Quotes About Habits, Practice & ConsistencyFailureGrowthGrowth MindsetHabitsInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilityMindsetMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistencePatiencePeacePersonal GrowthProductivitySelf-Control Quotes About Restraint & JudgmentShort
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Get into the habit of being orderly and neat.
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“Get into the habit of being orderly and neat.”

Booker T. Washington · Character Building · 1902
Meaning & context

Order is treated as trainable behavior that reduces avoidable friction and supports reliability in work, study, and shared environments.

Source details

Character Building, “Some Great Little Things,” Project Gutenberg #60484. Washington tells students to make order and neatness habitual in crowded rooms, immediately before his advice to work and close doors quietly.

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Generally then if you would make anything a habit, do it.
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“Generally then if you would make anything a habit, do it.”

Epictetus · Discourses of Epictetus · c. 125 CE
Meaning & context

Repeated behavior trains the corresponding habit, so change depends on practicing the desired action rather than merely endorsing it in theory.

Source details

Discourses of Epictetus, Book II, Chapter XVIII, “How we should struggle against appearances,” George Long translation; 1877 George Bell & Sons witness on Wikisource, cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #10661. This collection lightly normalizes Long’s “any thing” to “anything”; this longer record contains the shorter retained habit excerpt represented by a separate legacy quote URL.

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The more the habit of thrift is practised, the easier it becomes.
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“The more the habit of thrift is practised, the easier it becomes.”

Samuel Smiles · Thrift · 1875
Meaning & context

Repeated practice lowers the effort required for prudent behavior, illustrating how a difficult choice can gradually become an established habit.

Source details

Thrift, Chapter II, “Habits of Thrift,” Project Gutenberg #14418. The sentence completes Smiles’s practical paragraph on forming habits of economy: repeated thrift becomes easier and eventually compensates the self-denial it initially requires.

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If you would make anything a habit, do it.
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“If you would make anything a habit, do it.”

Epictetus · Discourses of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

Habit formation is reduced to repeated action: the behavior itself is what trains the pattern.

Source details

Discourses of Epictetus, Book II, Chapter XVIII, “How we should struggle against appearances,” George Long translation; 1877 George Bell & Sons witness on Wikisource, cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #10661. This short catalog record is an excerpt of Long’s longer clause “Generally then if you would make any thing a habit, do it”; this collection lightly normalizes “any thing” to “anything.”

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Not a day passes without its discipline, whether for good or for evil.
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“Not a day passes without its discipline, whether for good or for evil.”

Samuel Smiles · Character · 1871
Meaning & context

Daily experience is always training something, so ordinary choices can reinforce either constructive habits or patterns that make later self-command harder.

Source details

Character, Chapter I, “Influence of Character,” Project Gutenberg #2541. Smiles introduces the sentence while explaining that character is formed by many minute circumstances under partial individual control, so each day contributes discipline for good or ill.

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Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application?
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“Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application?”

Confucius · The Analects of Confucius · James Legge translation
Meaning & context

Learning becomes satisfying when it is sustained through repeated application rather than treated as a single act of exposure.

Source details

The Analects of Confucius, James Legge’s public-domain English translation; Book I opens by connecting learning with steady practice.

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