On Habits

“By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.”

“Men must do just actions to become just, and those of self-mastery to acquire the habit of self-mastery.”

“Every habit and faculty is maintained and increased by the corresponding actions: the habit of walking by walking, the habit of running by running.”

“Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.”

“Custom is a violent and treacherous schoolmistress. She, by little and little, slily and unperceived, slips in the foot of her authority.”

“Each link grew tighter as it had been longer worn, and when, by continual additions, they became so heavy as to be felt, they were very frequently too strong to be broken.”

“The diminutive chains of habit, as somebody says, are scarcely ever heavy enough to be felt, till they are too strong to be broken.”

“Could the young but realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of habits, they would give more heed to their conduct while in the plastic state.”

An hour by hour diary study found that acts repeated almost daily in a stable setting ran without conscious guidance, and carried less stress than the actions people still had to think through.

When 96 volunteers were tracked while building one new daily habit, the middle of the group needed about 66 days before the act felt automatic. The range ran from 18 days to 254.

“The great thing, then, in all education, is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy.”