Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.
If one were to measure what is agreeable by the standard of pleasure, nothing would be pleasanter than self-control; and if one were to measure what is to be avoided by pain, nothing would be more painful than lack of self-control.
Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.
People who know no self-restraint lead stormy and disordered lives, passing their time in a state of fear commensurate with the injuries they do to others, never able to relax.
Restrict yourself to choice and refusal; and exercise them carefully, with discipline and detachment.
All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.
Again, when fortune smiles and the stream of life flows according to our wishes, let us diligently avoid all arrogance, haughtiness, and pride. For it is as much a sign of weakness to give way to one's feelings in success as it is in adversity. But it is a fine thing to keep an unruffled temper, an unchanging mien, and the same cast of countenance in every condition of life; this, history tells us, was characteristic of Socrates and no less of Gaius Laelius.
The beginning and foundation of temperance lay in self- control in eating and drinking.