Discipline Is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control (The Stoic Virtues Series)

by Ryan Holiday

“The more a man is,” the editor Maxwell Perkins had inscribed on his mantel, “the less he wants.”

The less you desire, the richer you are, the freer you are, the more powerful you are. It’s that simple.

We don’t need accomplishments to feel good or to be good enough. What do we need? The truth: not much! Some food and water. Work that we can challenge ourselves with. A calm mind in the midst of adversity. Sleep. A solid routine. A cause we are committed to. Something we’re getting better at.

We decide whether we’ll deserve what we’ve gotten.

“Happy is the man who can make others better, not merely when he is in their company, but even when he is in their thoughts,”

What matters isn’t the title. It isn’t the power. It isn’t the wealth. It isn’t the control. That greatness isn’t what you have. It’s who you choose to become. Or who you choose to remain.