I think the first virtue is to restrain the tongue; he approaches nearest to gods who knows how to be silent, even though he is in the right. - Cato the Elder
Do thou restrain the haughty spirit in thy breast, for better far is gentle courtesy. - Homer
You (God) have not only commanded continence, that is, from what things we are to restrain our love, but also justice, that is, on what we are to bestow our love. - Saint Augustine
A learned man who doesn’t restrain his passions is like a blind man holding a torch, he guides others but not himself. - Shaykh Sa di
the ultimate aim of government is not to rule, or restrain by fear, nor to exact obedience, but to free every man from fear that he may live in all possible security... In fact the true aim of government is liberty. - Baruch Spinoza
Why do they always teach us that it's easy and evil to do what we want and that we need discipline to restrain ourselves? It's the hardest thing in the world--to do what we want. And it takes the greatest kind of courage. I mean, what we really want. - Ayn Rand
I take it as a man's duty to restrain himself. - Lois McMaster Bujold
Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained. - William Blake
Repression is not the way to virtue. When people restrain themselves out of fear, their lives are by necessity diminished. Only through freely chosen discipline can life be enjoyed and still kept within the bounds of reason. - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Stay calm and exercise restrain during your most desperate moment or you shall desperately say what when your desperation is over, you shall come to a later realization of what you shouldn’t have say and notice how silence could have been the best option to mere words! - Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests. - Patrick Henry
Man is not born to solve the problem of the universe, but to find out what he has to do; and to restrain himself within the limits of his comprehension. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Freedom of speech means setting words free. Imprisoned and freed words are consequential. All words have consequences. Restrain and release words with respect for their consequentialness. - John R. Dallas Jr.