--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once someone has spent enough time…" description: "\"Once someone has spent enough time cultivating bad habits and biding their time, they are much diminished. Much of what they could have been has dissip..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcb/jordan-peterson-4688_bad_once-someone-has-spent-enough-time-culti_1412563.png" --- # Once someone has spent enough time cultivating bad habits… ![“Once someone has spent enough time cultivating bad habits and biding their time, they are much diminished. Much of what they could have been has dissipated.” quote by Jordan Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcb/jordan-peterson-4688_bad_once-someone-has-spent-enough-time-culti_1412563.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcb/jordan-peterson-4688_bad_once-someone-has-spent-enough-time-culti_1412563.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcb/jordan-peterson-4688_bad_once-someone-has-spent-enough-time-culti_1412563.png) > “Once someone has spent enough time cultivating bad habits and biding their time, they are much diminished. Much of what they could have been has dissipated.” [Jordan Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-peterson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Long‑term bad habits erode potential and diminish a person’s capabilities. **In simple terms:** Bad habits waste potential. Key Takeaway Break harmful patterns early. Themes self‑improvement habits potential Mood reflective concerned Type advice motivational When to use this quote - personal development - career planning - health - relationships Key Concepts psychology behavioral change Questions to Reflect On - What habit has most limited you? - How can you start undoing it? A Different Perspective Habits are hard to change after they’re entrenched. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-habit/) [Bad habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-habits/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [The time has not diminished but ends, so do not waste it as will not be returned ended](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/innah-delos-angeles/the-time-has-not-diminished-but-ends-so-do-not-waste-it-as-will-not/) [Innah Delos Angeles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/innah-delos-angeles/) > [Through my college years, topping that ridge had always given me a great sense of being home, but time had diminished the emotion and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-mcmurtry/through-my-college-years-topping-that-ridge-had-always-given-me-a/) [Larry McMurtry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-mcmurtry/) > [Correcting bad habits cannot be done by forbidding or punishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-baden-powell/correcting-bad-habits-cannot-be-done-by-forbidding-or-punishment/) [Robert Baden-Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-baden-powell/) > [You'd think that in a fight, NOT MOVING would be a bad habit!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-westerfeld/you-d-think-that-in-a-fight-not-moving-would-be-a-bad-habit/) [Scott Westerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-westerfeld/) > [Movies are one of the bad habits that have corrupted our century. They have slipped into the American mind more misinformation in one evening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-hecht/movies-are-one-of-the-bad-habits-that-have-corrupted-our-century-they/) [Ben Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-hecht/) > [My bad habits aren't my title. My strengths and my talent are my title.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/layne-staley/my-bad-habits-aren-t-my-title-my-strengths-and-my-talent-are-my-title/) [Layne Staley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/layne-staley/) > [“So then, according to Jesus, the ‘evils’ which we think, say and do are not due primarily to our environment, nor are they bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-w-stott/so-then-according-to-jesus-the-evils-which-we-think-say-and-do-are/) [John R.W. Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-w-stott/) > [The game is played out of instinct, but everyone on the ice has habits - good and bad. 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Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [Even the most fickle are faithful to a few bad habits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-fickle-are-faithful-to-a-few-bad-habits/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Working at home is hard. It tends to give you bad habits. It feels more like you're going to work when you get up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-beaton/working-at-home-is-hard-it-tends-to-give-you-bad-habits-it-feels-more/) [Kate Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-beaton/) ## More by Jordan Peterson > [We're so immaturely cynical as a culture. 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To be an ideologue is to have all of the terrible things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-peterson/to-me-ideology-is-corrupt-it-s-a-parasite-on-religious-structures-to/) [Jordan Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-peterson/) > [The literature associating inequality with social instability and poor health outcomes is pretty convincing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-peterson/the-literature-associating-inequality-with-social-instability-and/) [Jordan Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-peterson/) > [Assuming if there's such a thing as reality, if you have a false relationship with it, how can you do anything but fail?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-peterson/assuming-if-there-s-such-a-thing-as-reality-if-you-have-a-false/) [Jordan Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-peterson/) > [The people who hold that our culture is an oppressive patriarchy, they don't want to admit that the current hierarchy might be predicated on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-peterson/the-people-who-hold-that-our-culture-is-an-oppressive-patriarchy-they/) [Jordan Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-peterson/) > [The multiplication force of technology on cognitive differences is massive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-peterson/the-multiplication-force-of-technology-on-cognitive-differences-is/) [Jordan Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-peterson/) > [It's very difficult to regulate yourself, and if you learn to do that, well, it starts to spill over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-peterson/it-s-very-difficult-to-regulate-yourself-and-if-you-learn-to-do-that/) [Jordan Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-peterson/) > [It's not just human nature to associate in tribes. 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