"Sow an act..."

In studying to teach the closing chapters of Genesis tonight at our midweek study, and expanding on the point that Jacob's prophecies over his sons are rooted in the characters they'd developed through the decisions they'd made and actions they'd taken, I was reminded of a quote I'd heard a long time ago: "Sow an act and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny." After a quick web search, I ran across a list of quotes on habits that gave me the source of the pithy statement (Marcus Fabius Quintilian in De Institutione Oratoria)... and also a plethora of other gems of wisdom.

• We sow our thoughts, and we reap our actions; we sow our actions, and we reap our habits; we sow our habits, and we reap our characters; we sow our characters, and we reap our destiny.
  Author: Desiderius Gerhard Erasmus
  Source: Diluculum


• Good habits result from resisting temptation.
  Author: Ancient Proverb


• Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity.
  Author: Saint Augustine


• Cultivate only the habits that you are willing should master you.
  Author: Elbert Hubbard


• The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.
  Author: Samuel Johnson


• Good habits, which bring our lower passions and appetites under automatic control, leave our natures free to explore the larger experiences of life. Too many of us divide and dissipate our energies in debating actions which should be taken for granted.
  Author: Ralph W. Sockman


• Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.
  Author: Mark Twain