--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you have overcome your inclination and…" description: "\"If you have overcome your inclination and not been overcome by it, you have reason to rejoice.\" — Plautus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e54/plautus-1263_happiness_if-you-have-overcome-your-inclination-an_280353.jpg" --- # If you have overcome your inclination and not been… ![“If you have overcome your inclination and not been overcome by it, you have reason to rejoice.” quote by Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e54/plautus-1263_happiness_if-you-have-overcome-your-inclination-an_280353.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e54/plautus-1263_happiness_if-you-have-overcome-your-inclination-an_280353.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e54/plautus-1263_happiness_if-you-have-overcome-your-inclination-an_280353.jpg) > “If you have overcome your inclination and not been overcome by it, you have reason to rejoice.” [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Overcoming personal urges without being ruled by them brings cause for celebration. **In simple terms:** Mastering desires leads to joy. Key Takeaway Cultivate self‑control for lasting happiness. Themes self‑control joy triumph Mood thoughtful hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - addiction recovery - stress management - goal setting Key Concepts Stoicism ethics psychology Questions to Reflect On - What urges test your discipline? - How can you celebrate small victories? A Different Perspective Self‑control is challenging and may require external support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) ## Related quotes > [Women find it far more difficult to overcome their inclination to coquetry than to overcome their love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/women-find-it-far-more-difficult-to-overcome-their-inclination-to/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Indeed we have great reason to rejoice. If life and its rushed pace and many stresses have made it difficult for you to feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/indeed-we-have-great-reason-to-rejoice-if-life-and-its-rushed-pace/) [Dieter F. 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Many who aspire to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorenzo-scupoli/here-we-discover-a-great-error-and-one-so-much-the-more-injurious-as/) [Lorenzo Scupoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorenzo-scupoli/) > [Nothing is easier for passion than to overcome reason, but the greatest triumph is to conquer a man's own interests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/nothing-is-easier-for-passion-than-to-overcome-reason-but-the/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [You shall by faith sustain yourself and comfort yourself in your Lord, and be strong in His power; for you are in the beaten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-rutherford/you-shall-by-faith-sustain-yourself-and-comfort-yourself-in-your-lord/) [Samuel Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-rutherford/) > [“But if your neediness is simply because you are a human being (i.e., not omniscient, not omnipresent, not omnipotent, not God), then you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-furman/but-if-your-neediness-is-simply-because-you-are-a-human-being-i-e-not/) [Gloria Furman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-furman/) > [“We always have reason to rejoice and never have reason to complain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-altrogge/we-always-have-reason-to-rejoice-and-never-have-reason-to-complain/) [Stephen Altrogge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-altrogge/) > [We have abundant reason to rejoice that in this Land the light of truth and reason has triumphed over the power of bigotry and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/we-have-abundant-reason-to-rejoice-that-in-this-land-the-light-of/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [“Emotion has the power to obscure and falsify knowledge: that the whole world assumes a smiling aspect when we have reason to rejoice, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/emotion-has-the-power-to-obscure-and-falsify-knowledge-that-the-whole/) [Irvin D. 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I like acting -delivering someone else's message - but writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/writing-is-something-i-took-up-rather-than-anything-i-had-an/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) ## More by Plautus > [Remind a man of what he remembers, and you will make him forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/remind-a-man-of-what-he-remembers-and-you-will-make-him-forget-it/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [Arrogance is the outgrowth of prosperity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/arrogance-is-the-outgrowth-of-prosperity/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [I suspect that hunger was my mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/i-suspect-that-hunger-was-my-mother/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [He is happy in his wisdom who has learned at another's expense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/he-is-happy-in-his-wisdom-who-has-learned-at-another-s-expense/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [He who dies for virtue does not perish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/he-who-dies-for-virtue-does-not-perish/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [The man who would be fully employed should procure a ship or a woman, for no two things produce more trouble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/the-man-who-would-be-fully-employed-should-procure-a-ship-or-a-woman/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [If you speak insults you will hear them also.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/if-you-speak-insults-you-will-hear-them-also/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [ No man has perpetual good fortune. \[Lat., Nulli est homini perpetuum bonum.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/no-man-has-perpetual-good-fortune-lat-nulli-est-homini-perpetuum-bonum/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [What you lend is lost; when you ask for it back, you may find a friend made an enemy by your kindness. 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That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/) [Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/) > [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/) [MARVIN J. 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He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/) [Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I've got nothing to do today but smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-nothing-to-do-today-but-smile/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/positive-thinking-evokes-more-energy-more-initiative-more-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) Pancho Barnes [Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you have overcome your inclination and not been overcome by it, you have reason to rejoice.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Plautus" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/if-you-have-overcome-your-inclination-and-not-been-overcome-by-it-you/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/if-you-have-overcome-your-inclination-and-not-been-overcome-by-it-you/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e54/plautus-1263_happiness_if-you-have-overcome-your-inclination-an_280353.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e54/plautus-1263_happiness_if-you-have-overcome-your-inclination-an_280353.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e54/plautus-1263_happiness_if-you-have-overcome-your-inclination-an_280353.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you have overcome your inclination and not been overcome by it, you have reason to rejoice.” — Plautus", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Plautus", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you have overcome your inclination...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/if-you-have-overcome-your-inclination-and-not-been-overcome-by-it-you/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/if-you-have-overcome-your-inclination-and-not-been-overcome-by-it-you/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```