Enkrateia translates from the Greek literally as power over oneself or inner sovereignty. Enkrateia stands in direct opposition to Akrasia or weakness of will: knowing the right thing to do yet yielding to short-term impulse or temptation, taking the lower path.
Enkrateia is not passive self-denial, rather it is a deliberate assertion of will, an act of self-mastery where reason wins the battle.
However, enkrateia is not the ultimate goal; the ideal state is one where reason and desire are one, where there is no struggle at all. The development of character and the acquisition of wisdom and maturity results in needing fewer and fewer battles until finally there are none. Your self-concept, your rock bottom identity is of a person to whom the higher path is the natural route, the only route, not even rising to the level of choice; it simply is who you are, what you do, you know no other way of being.
The Greeks called this sophrosyne: when self-control has become fully integrated into your persona, when moderation and temperance are your natural state.
Closing Quotes:
“The first and best victory is to conquer self.” – Plato
“No man is free who is a slave to the flesh.” – Seneca
“Self-control is strength. Right thought is mastery. Calmness is power.” – James Allen
“He who reigns within himself and rules passions, desires, and fears, is more than a king.” – John Milton
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Viktor Frankl
As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier
Note: Every effort has been made to properly source any 3rd person material. I am, however, a voracious reader. If anyone finds any unattributed material, pls let me know asap and I will be delighted to give credit where credit is due.
“All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832
