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Irvine: Giving in to quitting empowers internal weakness against future resolve

William Irvine · #123 William Irvine: How To Live a Stoic Life · Nov 2, 2021 · at 48:07

Philosopher William Irvine discusses self-discipline with Shane Parrish, explaining why capitulating to exhaustion compounds future weakness.

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“Giving into those voices encourages them hugely. You know, they live in the back closet of your mind and they're always trying. But you give them one big success, you know, where you actually do quit, and it's like giving them superpowers, you know, it's like you injected them with adrenaline or whatever, because after that, they're gonna own you.”

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