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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

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Source
Discourses of Epictetus
Date
c. 125
English wording
George Long — Translator · from Ancient Greek
Meaning

Meaning of “If you would make anything a habit, do…”

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

Source context

Where does it come from?

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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Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation

CalmConsistencyDiscipline Quotes About Habits, Practice & ConsistencyEffortGoalsGrowth MindsetHabitsHard WorkInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilityMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistencePatiencePeaceProductivityResponsibilitySelf-Control Quotes About Restraint & JudgmentShortStoicStrengthSuccessActionMotivation For Work
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“Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.”

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The master-word is Work
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“The master-word is Work”

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Meaning & context

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Source details

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