Quotes about temptation

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

— Joey Adams

Temptations, unlike opportunities, will always give you many second chances.

— Orlando A. Battista

He who is not tempted, what does he know? And he who is not tried, what are the things he knows? [Ecclesiasticus]

— Bible

How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy Word. Thy Word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee. [Psalms 119:9-11]

— Bible

The force of the blow depends on the resistance. It is sometimes better not to struggle against temptation. Either fly or yield at once.

— Francis H. Bradley

Can a moment of madness make up for an age of consent?

— Basil Bunting

Temptations, when we first meet them, are like a lion that roared at Samson; but if we overcome them, the next time we see them we shall find a nest of honey within them.

— John Bunyan

No temptation can ever be measured by the value of its object.

— Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

We gain the strength of the temptation we resist.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every moment of resistance to temptation is a victory.

— Frederick W. Faber

We are all mortal until the first kiss and the second glass of wine.

— Eduardo Galeano

Why resist temptation? There will always be more.

— Don Herold

You oughtn't to yield to temptation. Well, somebody must, or the thing becomes absurd.

— Anthony Hope

We love to overlook the boundaries which we do not wish to pass.

— Samuel Johnson

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

— Thomas Kempis

The most successful tempters and thus the most dangerous are the deluded deluders.

— Georg C. Lichtenberg

Man is so muddled, so dependent on the things immediately before his eyes, that every day even the most submissive believer can be seen to risk the torments of the afterlife for the smallest pleasure.

— Joseph De Maistre

Temptation is a woman's weapon and man's excuse.

— H. L. Mencken

Taste this, and be henceforth among the Gods thyself a Goddess.

— John Milton

Temptations come, as a general rule, when they are sought.

— Margaret Oliphant

Remove the temptation of idleness and cupids bow is useless.

— Ovid

Most dangerous Is that temptation that doth goad us on to sin in loving virtue

— William Shakespeare

O mischief, thou art swift to enter in the thoughts of desperate men!

— William Shakespeare

It is easier to stay out than get out.

— Mark Twain

I can resist everything except temptation.

— Oscar Wilde

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

— Oscar Wilde

Anybody can be good in the country. There are no temptations there.

— Oscar Wilde

Follow the siren's call, and you'll probably end up in the hospital.

— Leslie Miklosy

I can resist anything but temptation.

— Oscar Wilde

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

— Mae West