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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

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Source
Thrift
Date
1875
Meaning

Meaning of “The more the habit of thrift is practised,…”

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

Source context

Where does it come from?

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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BusinessCalmConsistencyDiscipline Quotes About Habits, Practice & ConsistencyGrowthHabitsInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilityMoneyMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistencePatiencePeacePersonal GrowthProductivityResponsibilitySelf-Control Quotes About Restraint & JudgmentShortSimplicity
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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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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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The master-word is Work
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“The master-word is Work”

William Osler · The Master-Word in Medicine · 1903
Meaning & context

Osler makes sustained work the organizing principle of his address to medical students, emphasizing disciplined practice over brilliance without application.

Source details

The Master-Word in Medicine, address delivered October 1, 1903 at the opening of the new buildings of the University of Toronto Medical Faculty; reviewed against the represented 1903 John Murphy pamphlet, Internet Archive identifier b28060805. ‘The master-word is Work’ is Osler’s organizing refrain and is followed by his appeal to write the word on the heart and forehead. This remains historical professional rhetoric rather than an endorsement of unsafe working hours or workaholism.

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