"No man had ever a greater power over himself....

He was very temperate in diet, and a supreme governor over all his passions and affections; and he had thereby great power over other men's." Sir Philip Warwick, another of his political opponents, incidentally describes his great influence in a certain debate: "We had catched at each other's locks, and sheathed our swords in each other's bowels, had not the sagacity and great calmness of Mr.Hampden, by a short speech, prevented it, and led us to defer our angry debate until the next morning." A strong temper is not necessarily a bad temper.

But the stronger the temper, the greater is the need of self-discipline and self-control.
Dr.Johnson says men grow better as they grow older, and improve with experience; but this depends upon the width, and depth, and generousness of their nature.

It is not men's faults that ruin them so much as the manner in which they conduct themselves after the faults have been committed.

The wise will profit by the suffering they cause, and eschew them for the future; but there are those on whom experience exerts no ripening influence, and who only grow narrower and bitterer and more vicious with time.
What is called strong temper in a young man, often indicates a large amount of unripe energy, which will expend itself in useful work if the road be fairly opened to it.