Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Control of one's emotions, desires, or actions by one's own will.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Self-command; self-restraint.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Control of one's self; restraint exercised over one's self; self-command.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The ability to control one's
desires andimpulses ;willpower .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the trait of resolutely controlling your own behavior
- noun the act of denying yourself; controlling your impulses
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Recent research suggests that "Willpower" may exacerbate the very problem it is trying to reduce by promoting the idea of self-control as a limited resource.
The Will in the World Cordelia Fine 2011
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Kerby Miller, the leading historian of Irish emigrants to North America, notes that Catholic discipline easily merged with American demands: “church teachings, as reflected in sermons and parochial school readers, commanded emigrants and their children to industry, thrift, sobriety, and self-control—habits which would not only prevent spiritual ruin but also shape good citizens and successful businessmen.”
A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010
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Dancers were allowed only to exhibit “self-control and self-government” in their movements.
A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010
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So the Founding Fathers redefined freedom as self-control and built a political system around it called democracy.
A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010
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The “wild Irish” were “unstable as water,” while the English exemplified order and self-control.
A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010
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Do we as a species have the political will to exercise self-control and to show a bit of humility?
David B. Williams: Restraint and Hope: Lessons From Lake Baikal and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge David B. Williams 2011
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Do we as a species have the political will to exercise self-control and to show a bit of humility?
David B. Williams: Restraint and Hope: Lessons From Lake Baikal and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge David B. Williams 2011
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Indeed, Akst betrays a certain contempt for modern science and its insights into self-restraint, as revealed by this statement: "I discovered that the very best guides to weakness of the will held no tenure, had no graduate degrees, and dealt with the problem of self-control without magnetic resonance imaging devices for peering into the skulls of undergraduates."
You are not the boss of you Post 2011
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Sometimes it takes all my resolution and power of self-control to restrain myself from butting my head against the wall.
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It takes way more self-control to get me to the gym than it does even to get me past a blank page, so you have my complete admiration.
bilby commented on the word self-control
"We trudge around the streets looking for a reasonable cafe. We find one on a wide one-time populous street, now rather run down, on it is a Trattoria Tuscano, 'Allied Soldiers Welcomes'. Inside, about twelve tables, all covered in white paper, sparsely laid out with cutlery. A few tables are occupied by what look like potential Mafia recruits, all huddled over their tables talking in low voices, an act of great self-control for Italians."
- Spike Milligan, 'Mussolini: My Part In His Downfall.'
April 18, 2009