--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is our Puritanism, insisting that…" description: "\"“It is our Puritanism, insisting that discipline means repression or punishment, which confuses the subject. To discipline something, in the proper sen..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/176/ursula-k-le-guin-138_discipline_it-is-our-puritanism-insisting-that-disc_2083769.jpg" --- # It is our Puritanism, insisting that discipline means… ![“It is our Puritanism, insisting that discipline means repression or punishment, which confuses the subject. To discipline something, in the proper sense of the word, does not mean to repress it, but to train it - to encourage it to grow, and act, and be fruitful, whether it is a peach tree or a…” quote by Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/176/ursula-k-le-guin-138_discipline_it-is-our-puritanism-insisting-that-disc_2083769.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/176/ursula-k-le-guin-138_discipline_it-is-our-puritanism-insisting-that-disc_2083769.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/176/ursula-k-le-guin-138_discipline_it-is-our-puritanism-insisting-that-disc_2083769.jpg) > ““It is our Puritanism, insisting that discipline means repression or punishment, which confuses the subject. To discipline something, in the proper sense of the word, does not mean to repress it, but to train it - to encourage it to grow, and act, and be fruitful, whether it is a peach tree or a human mind.”” [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Discipline is not repression but nurturing; it involves training and encouraging growth, whether in plants or minds. **In simple terms:** Discipline nurtures growth, not suppresses. Key Takeaway Apply discipline as supportive training. Themes discipline growth training repression encouragement Mood instructive motivational Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - teaching - personal development - gardening - mental health - leadership Key Concepts education psychology philosophy agricultural metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How can you train your mind like a tree? - What does true discipline look like in daily life? A Different Perspective May be idealistic about ease of training. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) [Human mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [Nonviolent action involves opposing the opponent's power, including his police and military capacity, not with the weapons chosen by him but by quite different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-sharp/nonviolent-action-involves-opposing-the-opponent-s-power-including/) [Gene Sharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-sharp/) > [Discipline means protection from one's own wanton interest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/discipline-means-protection-from-one-s-own-wanton-interest/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [Discipline means looking beyond the appearance, beyond that which is visible and acknowledging one Infinite Cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-johnson/discipline-means-looking-beyond-the-appearance-beyond-that-which-is/) [Tom Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-johnson/) > [Sometimes discipline, which means 'to teach,' is confused with criticism. Children-as well as people of all ages-improve behavior from love and encouragement more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-w-tanner/sometimes-discipline-which-means-to-teach-is-confused-with-criticism-2/) [Susan W. Tanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-w-tanner/) > [“I'm buried beneath an avalanche of papers, I don't understand the language of the country, and what do I do about a kid who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bel-kaufman/i-m-buried-beneath-an-avalanche-of-papers-i-don-t-understand-the/) [Bel Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bel-kaufman/) > [The clerical work is par for the course. "Keep on file in numerical order" means throw in wastebasket. You'll soon learn the language. "Let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bel-kaufman/the-clerical-work-is-par-for-the-course-keep-on-file-in-numerical/) [Bel Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bel-kaufman/) > [What is discipline? Discipline means creating an order within you. As you are, you are a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-discipline-discipline-means-creating-an-order-within-you-as/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The word discipline has disappeared from our minds, our mouths, our pulpits, and our culture. We hardly know what discipline means in modern American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-s-whitney/the-word-discipline-has-disappeared-from-our-minds-our-mouths-our/) [Donald S. Whitney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-s-whitney/) > [Discipline means behaving according to what you have decided is best, regardless of how you feel in the moment. The first trait of discipline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dranil-kr-sinha/discipline-means-behaving-according-to-what-you-have-decided-is-best/) [DrAnil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dranil-kr-sinha/) > [Sometimes discipline, which means "to teach," is confused with criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-w-tanner/sometimes-discipline-which-means-to-teach-is-confused-with-criticism/) [Susan W. Tanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-w-tanner/) > [Discipline means we don't let go of the things we know we should be doing, we do them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/discipline-means-we-don-t-let-go-of-the-things-we-know-we-should-be/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [What is discipline? Discipline means creating an order within you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-discipline-discipline-means-creating-an-order-within-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“True discipline means channeling our best hours into first-order objectives, and that means being a nonconformist in the best sense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-covey/true-discipline-means-channeling-our-best-hours-into-first-order/) [Stephen R. Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-covey/) > [Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/discipline-means-to-prevent-everything-in-your-life-from-being-filled/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) > [“The book itself is a curious artifact, not showy in its technology but complex and extremely efficient: a really neat little device, compact, often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-book-itself-is-a-curious-artifact-not-showy-in-its-technology-but/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) ## More by Ursula K. Le Guin > [“...I wore his blood for clothing, on my legs and thighs and hands: a dry, stiff, brown garment with no warmth in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-wore-his-blood-for-clothing-on-my-legs-and-thighs-and-hands-a-dry/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Translation is entirely mysterious. Increasingly I have felt that the art of writing is itself translating, or more like translating than it is like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/translation-is-entirely-mysterious-increasingly-i-have-felt-that-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Aeneas' mother is a star?" "No; a goddess." I said cautiously, "Venus is the power that we invoke in spring, in the garden, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/aeneas-mother-is-a-star-no-a-goddess-i-said-cautiously-venus-is-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Meaning - this is perhaps the common note, the bane I am seeking. What is the Meaning of this book, this event in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/meaning-this-is-perhaps-the-common-note-the-bane-i-am-seeking-what-is/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [For fantasy is true, of course. It isn't factual, but it is true. Children know that. Adults know it too, and that is precisely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/for-fantasy-is-true-of-course-it-isn-t-factual-but-it-is-true/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“. . . chronosophy does involve ethics. Because our sense of time involves our ability to separate cause and effect, means and end. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/chronosophy-does-involve-ethics-because-our-sense-of-time-involves/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“If both you and your plane are on time, the airport is merely a diffuse, short, miserable prelude to the intense, long, miserable plane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/if-both-you-and-your-plane-are-on-time-the-airport-is-merely-a/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“The author is not impartial. Dystopia is not tragedy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-author-is-not-impartial-dystopia-is-not-tragedy/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Between thought and spoken word is a gap where intention can enter, the symbol be twisted aside, and the lie come to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/between-thought-and-spoken-word-is-a-gap-where-intention-can-enter/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [I have no control over my writing. I have lots of good intentions, but no control. There's a story that wants to be told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-have-no-control-over-my-writing-i-have-lots-of-good-intentions-but/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“I did a lot today. That is, I did something. The only thing I have ever done. I pressed a button. It took the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-did-a-lot-today-that-is-i-did-something-the-only-thing-i-have-ever/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [To me the female principle is, or at least historically has been, basically anarchic. It values order without constraint, rule by custom not by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/to-me-the-female-principle-is-or-at-least-historically-has-been/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Hector had no virtue?” “Of course he did. He won all his battles, till the last one.” “We all do,” Aeneas remarked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/hector-had-no-virtue-of-course-he-did-he-won-all-his-battles-till-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“I was willing to believe him that most modern writing was trash, on the evidence that so much old writing was trash; but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-was-willing-to-believe-him-that-most-modern-writing-was-trash-on/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Can women operate as women in a male institution without becoming imitation men?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/can-women-operate-as-women-in-a-male-institution-without-becoming/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) [Explore all 1,114 Ursula K. Le Guin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) ## More Discipline quotes > [Christianity was never meant to be defined by its disciplines, but by its passions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/christianity-was-never-meant-to-be-defined-by-its-disciplines-but-by/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [Grit and self-control are related, but they're not the same thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-duckworth/grit-and-self-control-are-related-but-they-re-not-the-same-thing/) [Angela Duckworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-duckworth/) > [“Peace requires a discipline more iron than war. - Easter, 1939 ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-j-turner/peace-requires-a-discipline-more-iron-than-war-easter-1939/) W.J. Turner > [You can't have the fruits without the roots. It's the principle of sequencing: Private Victories proceed Public Victories. Self-mastery and self-discipline are the foundation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/you-can-t-have-the-fruits-without-the-roots-it-s-the-principle-of/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > [Like a child exploring the attic of an old house on a rainy day, discovering a trunk full of treasure and then calling all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-h-peterson/like-a-child-exploring-the-attic-of-an-old-house-on-a-rainy-day/) [Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-h-peterson/) > [Exercise teaches you the pleasure of discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/exercise-teaches-you-the-pleasure-of-discipline/) [Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/) > [I'm always writing. I'm an obsessive. It's not because I'm a disciplined person. It's because I'm crazy about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/i-m-always-writing-i-m-an-obsessive-it-s-not-because-i-m-a/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [“I felt like praying or something, when I was in bed, but I couldn't do it. I can't always pray when I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-felt-like-praying-or-something-when-i-was-in-bed-but-i-couldn-t-do/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [The undisciplined child enters into discipline by working in the company of others; not being told he is naughty.” “Discipline is, therefore, primarily a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/the-undisciplined-child-enters-into-discipline-by-working-in-the/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [“Proverbs from the East: The wind howls, but the mountain remains still. Even though I make no special attempt to observe the discipline of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/proverbs-from-the-east-the-wind-howls-but-the-mountain-remains-still/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [To behave creatively in art means behavior with skill; and skill comes from discipline, not derangement. The artist who knows the rules -and proportion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burne-hogarth/to-behave-creatively-in-art-means-behavior-with-skill-and-skill-comes/) Burne Hogarth > [Self-discipline is an act of cultivation. It require you to connect today's actions to tomorrow's results. There's a season for sowing a season for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-ryan-blair/self-discipline-is-an-act-of-cultivation-it-require-you-to-connect/) [Gary Ryan Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-ryan-blair/) > [The individual, by means of the discipline imposed on him by sport, not only plays and finds relaxation from the various compulsions to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-individual-by-means-of-the-discipline-imposed-on-him-by-sport-not/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [Cheerfulness in most cheerful people is the rich and satisfying result of strenuous discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-percy-whipple/cheerfulness-in-most-cheerful-people-is-the-rich-and-satisfying/) [Edwin Percy Whipple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-percy-whipple/) > [Stay in your seat come times of trouble. Its only people who jump off the roller coaster who get hurt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-harvey/stay-in-your-seat-come-times-of-trouble-its-only-people-who-jump-off/) [Paul Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-harvey/) [Browse all 5,597 Discipline quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is our Puritanism, insisting that discipline means repression or punishment, which confuses the subject. To discipline something, in the proper sense of the word, does not mean to repress it, but to train it - to encourage it to grow, and act, and be fruitful, whether it is a peach tree or a human mind.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ursula K. 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