Temptation Quotes

• Temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat or the throat of a man; it may be his food or his poison, his exercise or his destruction

  John Owen

  Cutting, Exercise, Men

  John Owen, Rev Terry Kulakowski, Editor “Overcoming Temptation and Sin”, Lulu.com

  59 Copy quote

  Show source

• Knowledge of God's Word is a bulwark against deception, temptation, accusation, even persecution.

  Edwin Louis Cole

  God, Hype, Deception

  55 Copy quote

• Do not worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older it will avoid you.

  Joey Adams

  Funny, Life, Birthday

  Joey Adams (1981). “Strictly for laughs”, A & W Publishers, Inc.

  51 Copy quote

  Show source

• By persistently remaining single a man converts himself into a permanent public temptation.

  Oscar Wilde

  Anniversary, Single, Funny Valentines Day

  Oscar Wilde (2012). “The Wit and Humor of Oscar Wilde”, p.32, Courier Corporation

  40 Copy quote

  Show source

• It's all right letting yourself go, as long as you can get yourself back.

  Mick Jagger

  Inspirational, Motivational, Letting Go

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  89 Copy quote

  Show source

• A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is... A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in.

  C. S. Lewis

  Motivational, Strong, Lying

  62 Copy quote

• I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.

  Mae West

  Motivational, Tattoo, Sexy

  My Little Chickadee (motion picture) (1940) See Balzac 1; Clementina Graham 1; Wilde 25; Wilde 53

  70 Copy quote

  Show source

• Do not grieve over the temptations you suffer. When the Lord intends to bestow a particular virtue on us, He often permits us first to be tempted by the opposite vice. Therefore, look upon every temptation as an invitation to grow in a particular virtue and a promise by God that you will be successful, if only you stand fast.

  Philip Neri

  Successful, Grieving, Opposites

  131 Copy quote

• The biggest human temptation is... to settle for too little.

  Thomas Merton

  Wisdom, Simple Life, Littles

  Forbes, August 4, 1980.

  21 Copy quote

  Show source
• 

  There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.

  Mark Twain

  Motivational, Forbidden Love, Self Control

  Mark Twain (2014). “Mark Twain on Common Sense: Timeless Advice and Words of Wisdom from America's Most-Revered Humorist”, p.31, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

  23 Copy quote

  Show source

• Every moment of resistance to temptation is a victory.

  Frederick William Faber

  Victory, Resistance, Moments

  19 Copy quote

• The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it... I can resist everything but temptation.

  Oscar Wilde

  Yield, Way, Gray

  The Picture of Dorian Gray ch. 2 (1891) See Balzac 1; Clementina Graham 1; Mae West 19; Wilde 53

  17 Copy quote

  Show source

• The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason.

  T. S. Eliot

  Deeds, Lasts, Reason

  Murder in the Cathedral pt. 1 (1935)

  28 Copy quote

  Show source

• Find out what your temptations are, and you will find out largely what you are yourself.

  Henry Ward Beecher

  Henry Ward Beecher, William Drysdale (1887). “Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit”

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• We usually know what we can do, but temptation shows us who we are.

  Thomas a Kempis

  Who We Are, Shows, Tempted

  6 Copy quote

• We gain the strength of the temptation we resist.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Inspirational, Gains, Tempted

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1983). “Essays and Lectures”, p.298, Library of America

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• There is a certain degree of temptation which will overcome any virtue. Now, in so far as you approach temptation to a man, you do him an injury; and, if he is overcome, you share his guilt.

  Samuel Johnson

  Men, Guilt, Overcoming

  James Boswell, Samuel Johnson, Edmond Malone (1824). “The life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D., comprehending an account of his studies, and numerous works, in chronological order: a series of his epistolary correspondence and conversations with many eminent persons; and various original pieces of his composition, never before published; the whole exhibiting a view of literature and literary men in Great Britain, for near half a century during which he flourished”, p.229

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Life, Integrity, Law Of Attraction

  Michel de Montaigne (2015). “Montaigne's Essays: Top Essays”, p.679, 谷月社

  20 Copy quote

  Show source

• Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.

  James Buckham Kennedy

  Depression, Wise, Adversity

  11 Copy quote

• We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

  Oscar Wilde

  Inspirational, Funny, Positive

  Lady Windermere's Fan act 3 (1892)

  72 Copy quote

  Show source

• Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Motivational, Drinking, Beer

  The Devil's Dictionary

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• God is better served in resisting a temptation to evil than in many formal prayers.

  William Penn

  Prayer, Evil, Formal

  William Penn (1726). “A Collection of the Works of William Penn: To which is Prefixed a Journal of His Life, with Many Original Letters and Papers Not Before Published”, p.840

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• Most people would like to be delivered from temptation but would like it to keep in touch.

  Robert Orben

  Motivational, Life And Love, People

  18 Copy quote

• Do you really think it is weakness that yields to temptation? I tell you that there are terrible temptations which it requires strength, strength and courage to yield to.

  Oscar Wilde

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  Oscar Wilde (2015). “An Ideal Husband”, p.40, Sheba Blake Publishing

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• It is easier to stay out than get out.

  Mark Twain

  Inspiration, Achievement, Smoking

  Following the Equator ch. 18, "Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar" (1897)

  7 Copy quote

  Show source