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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

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1871
Meaning

Meaning of “Not a day passes without its discipline, whether…”

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

Source context

Where does it come from?

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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CalmChange and GrowthDiscipline Quotes About Habits, Practice & ConsistencyGrowthHabitsInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilityMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistencePatiencePeacePersonal GrowthResponsibilitySelf-Control Quotes About Restraint & JudgmentShortStrengthCharacter
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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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Hard is it to correct a habit already formed.
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“Hard is it to correct a habit already formed.”

Publilius Syrus · The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus · 1856 translation
Meaning & context

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

Source details

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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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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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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The governing of our temper is truly the business of our whole lives.
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“The governing of our temper is truly the business of our whole lives.”

Mary Wollstonecraft · Thoughts on the Education of Daughters · 1787
Meaning & context

Emotional self-command is not a childhood lesson completed once; it remains a lifelong practice because new circumstances continually test established habits.

Source details

Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787), “The TEMPER,” printed page 62, Project Gutenberg #67466. Wollstonecraft calls governing the temper the business of the whole life while discussing habits of self-command and conduct; the passage is moral-educational argument rather than clinical emotion-regulation advice.

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Thrift is not a natural instinct. It is an acquired principle of conduct.
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“Thrift is not a natural instinct. It is an acquired principle of conduct.”

Samuel Smiles · Thrift · 1875
Meaning & context

Careful use of resources is described as learned behavior, which means it can be strengthened through repeated practice rather than treated as fixed temperament.

Source details

Thrift, Chapter I, “Industry,” Project Gutenberg #14418. After describing thrift as learned rather than instinctive, Smiles defines it as an acquired principle of conduct involving self-denial, reason, forethought and prudence.

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