Roy Baumeister Quotes

#1. People with high but unstable self-esteem exhibit the greatest hostility.

Roy Baumeister

#2. I hate religion. I think it's a neurological disorder.

Bill Maher

#3. I wasn't cute or passive enough to be "femme," and I wasn't mean or tough enough to be "butch." I was given a wide berth. Non-conventional people can be dangerous, even in the gay community.

Audre Lorde

#4. Trophies should go to the winners. Self-esteem does not lead to success in life. Self-discipline and self-control do, and sports can help teach those.

Roy Baumeister

#5. One time my mom tried to send me to my room for a time-out when I was 5 or 6, and I was like, "Fine! I like my room! All my imagination and toys are in my room!" I will never forget that. And she will never forget that.

Elizabeth Olsen

#6. Not to have an adequate air force in the present state of the world is to compromise the foundations of national freedom and independence.

Winston S. Churchill

#7. Most of the problems that plague our society - addiction, overeating, crime, domestic violence, prejudice, debt, unwanted pregnancy, educational failure, underperformance at school and work, lack of savings, failure to exercise - are in some degree a failure of self-control.

Roy Baumeister

#8. The best way to reduce stress in your life is to stop screwing up.

Roy F. Baumeister

#9. Researchers were surprised to find that people with strong self-control spent less time resisting desires than other people did ... people with good self-control mainly use it not for rescue in emergencies but rather to develop effective habits and routines in school and at work.

Roy Baumeister

#10. However you define success - a happy family, good friends, a satisfying career, robust health, financial security, the freedom to pursue your passions - it tends to be accompanied by a couple of qualities.

Roy F. Baumeister

#11. You couldn't put me in a social group setting. I'm probably a terrible anarchist deep down.

Maya Lin

#12. Evil is not likely to result where people firmly believe that ends do not justify the means.

Roy Baumeister

#13. What stress really does, though, is deplete willpower, which diminishes your ability to control those emotions.

Roy F. Baumeister

#14. For most of us ... the problem is not a lack of goals but rather too many of them.

Roy Baumeister

#15. I was never Vice Chair of the Troops Out Movement.

Peter Hain

#16. Nothing can withstand the power of the human will if it is willing to stake its very existence to the extent of its purpose.

Benjamin Disraeli

#17. If we could see ourselves the way that others see us, we would be amazed.

Zan Perrion

#18. Willpower is what separates us from the animals. It's the capacity to restrain our impulses, resist temptation - do what's right and good for us in the long run, not what we want to do right now. It's central, in fact, to civilisation.

Roy Baumeister

#19. The societal pursuit of high self-esteem for everyone may literally end up doing considerable harm.

Roy Baumeister

#20. Some of the best writing I've done, whether I'm shooting a story or thinking of a script, I write it in my head as I'm running. Running literally jogs my brain.

Natalie Morales

#21. What sets human beings apart from animals is not the pursuit of happiness, which occurs all across the natural world, but the pursuit of meaning, which is unique to humans.

Roy Baumeister

#22. Most people who perpetrate evil do not see what they are doing as evil. Evil exists primarily in the eye of the beholder, especially in the eye of the victim.

Roy F. Baumeister

#23. We must become lighter beings.

Tom Lubbock

#24. By themselves, genetically engineered crops will not end hunger or improve health or bolster the economies of struggling countries. They won't save the sight of millions or fortify their bones. But they will certainly help.

Michael Specter

#25. Willpower is a muscle that can be strengthened.

Roy Baumeister