But the bravest man amongst us is afraid of himself. The mutilation of the savage has its tragic survival in the self-denial that mars our lives. We are punished for our refusals. Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind and poisons us. The body sins once, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification. Nothing remains then but the recollection of a pleasure, or the luxury of a regret. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful. It has been said that the great events of the world take place in the brain. It is in the brain, and the brain only, that the great sins of the world take place also.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet
Things forbidden have a secret charm.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Political leader, Historian
No degree of temptation justifies any degree of sin.
—Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806–67) American Poet, Playwright, Essayist
The force of the blow depends on the resistance. It is sometimes better not to struggle against temptation. Either fly or yield at once.
—F. H. Bradley (1846–1924) British Philosopher
Most confidence has still most cause to doubt.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright, Translator
No place, no company, no age, no person is temptation-free; let no man boast that he was never tempted, let him not be high-minded, but fear, for he may be surprised in that very instance wherein he boasteth that he was never tempted at all.
—Edmund Spenser (1552–99) English Poet
Temptation hath a music for all ears.
—Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806–67) American Poet, Playwright, Essayist
Prosperity doth bewitch men, seeming clear;
As seas do laugh, show white, when rocks are near.
—John Webster (1580–1634) English Dramatist, Poet
If there were no evil in ourselves there could be no temptation from without, for nothing evil could seem pleasant.
—Francis Marion Crawford (1854–1909) Italian-born American Novelist, Writer
I can resist everything except temptation.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet
The study of God’s Word is the only antidote against temptation.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Happy the man who resists his temptations.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith