Mormon Musings

In its simplest terms, self-mastery is doing those things we should do and not doing those things we should not do. President James E. Faust April 2000 General Conference

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly. Thomas H. Huxley, English Biologist, 1825

Surely it should give us more pause than  it does to think of how casually we sometimes give  to [Satan] who could not control his own ego in the  pre-mortal world such awful control over our egos here.  We often let the adversary do indirectly now what  we refused to let him do directly then” Elder Neal A. Maxwell - We Will Prove Them Herewith

Aristotle said, “For what it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.” Aristotle,  Nicomachean Ethics,  book 3, chapter 5.

"You are aware that many think the devil has power over both the body and spirit. Now I want to tell you that he does not hold power over any, only as far as the body overcomes the spirit that is in man, through yielding to the spirit of evil. The spirit that the Lord puts into a tabernacle of flesh is under the dictation of the Lord Almighty…In the first place the spirit is pure, and under the special control and influence of the Lord, but the body is of the earth, and is  subject to the power of the devil, and is under the mighty influence of that fallen nature that is of the earth. If the spirit yields to the body, the devil then has power to overcome the body and spirit of man, and [that man] loses both… When you are tempted, buffeted, and step out of the way inadvertently: when you are overtaken in fault, or commit an over act unthinkingly; when you are full of evil passion and wish to yield to it, then stop and let the spirit, which God has put into your tabernacles, take t...

On occasion, the biting of the tongue can be as important as the gift of tongues. Elder Neal A. Maxwell (Ensign, November 1990, p. 16)

...when a newborn baby was brought before the venerable Robert E. Lee and the hopeful parents asked for this legendary man’s advice, saying, “What should we teach this child? How should he make his way in the world?” the wise old general said, “Teach him to deny himself. Teach him to say no.” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland BYU Devotional, January 1989 http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=729

True law enforcement depends on the policing of one's self.  If the sentry of self fails, there are simply not enough other policemen to restrain those who will not restrain themselves, and beating the system will become the system. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1975, p. 101

Now, brethren, can we fight against and subdue ourselves? That is the greatest difficulty we ever encountered, and the most arduous warfare we over engaged in. This will apply most perfectly to the brethren who have gathered with the Saints. When we are out in the world we preach faith and repentance, so that the Saints bring the knowledge of first principles with them to the gathering-place. Your next step is to enter into the study of this. A man may learn letters and study all the various branches of scholastic education to the day of his death; but if he does not attain to strict self discipline, his learning will not amount to much. The catalogue of man’s discipline he must compile himself: he cannot be guided by any rule that others may lay down, but is placed under the necessity of tracing it himself through every avenue of his life. He is obliged to catechise and train himself, for he knows his own disposition the best—its fortified and unfortified parts. He is therefore the ...

Now, brethren, can we fight against and subdue ourselves? That is the greatest difficulty we ever encountered, and the most arduous warfare we over engaged in. This will apply most perfectly to the brethren who have gathered with the Saints. When we are out in the world we preach faith and repentance, so that the Saints bring the knowledge of first principles with them to the gathering-place. Your next step is to enter into the study of this. A man may learn letters and study all the various branches of scholastic education to the day of his death; but if he does not attain to strict self discipline, his learning will not amount to much. The catalogue of man’s discipline he must compile himself: he cannot be guided by any rule that others may lay down, but is placed under the necessity of tracing it himself through every avenue of his life. He is obliged to catechise and train himself, for he knows his own disposition the best—its fortified and unfortified parts. He is therefore the ...