O mischief, thou art swift to enter in the thoughts of desperate men.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Sometimes we are devils ourselves, when we will tempt the frailty of our powers, presuming on their changeful potency.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Do not give dalliance too much the rein; the strongest oaths are straw to the fire in the blood.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
When the flesh presents thee with delights, then present thyself with dangers; where the world possesses thee with vain hopes, there possess thyself with true fear; when the devil brings thee oil, bring thou vinegar. The way to be safe is never to be secure.
—Francis Quarles (1592–1644) English Religious 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
It is one thing to be tempted, another thing to fall.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Great possessions and great want of them are both strong temptations.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
We usually know what we can do, but temptation shows us who we are.
—Thomas a Kempis (1379–1471) German Religious Priest, Writer
He who has no mind to trade with the devil, should be so wise as to keep away from his shop.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
Lie in the lap of sin, and not mean harm? It is hypocrisy against the devil: They that mean virtuously, and yet do so, the devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt heaven.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
You oughtn’t to yield to temptation. Well, somebody must, or the thing becomes absurd.
—Anthony Hope (1863–1933) English Novelist, Playwright
The study of God’s Word is the only antidote against temptation.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
As the Sandwich Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptations we resist.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Temptation is a woman’s weapon and man’s excuse.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
The most successful tempters and thus the most dangerous are the deluded deluders.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Philosopher, Physicist
It is easier to stay out than get out.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Every temptation is great or small according as the man is.
—Jeremy Taylor
No one can ask honestly or hope fully to be delivered from temptation unless he has himself honestly and firmly determined to do the best he can to keep out of it.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
Good habits result from resisting temptation.
—Common Proverb
Abstainer: A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
Temptations, when we meet them at first, are as the lion that roared upon Samson; but if we overcome them, the next time we see them we shall find a nest of honey within them.
—John Bunyan (1628–88) English Puritan Writer, Preacher
Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.
—George Washington (1732–99) American Head of State, Military Leader
Some temptations come to the industrious, but all temptations attack the idle.
—Charles Spurgeon (1834–92) English Baptist Preacher
Temptation is the fire that brings up the scum of the heart.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds, makes deeds ill done!
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
He who is not tempted, what does he know? And he who is not tried, what are the things he knows?
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
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 Idealist Philosopher
Most dangerous is that temptation that doth goad us on to sin in loving virtue.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
When I cannot be forced, I am fooled out of my integrity. He cannot constrain if I do not consent. If I do but keep possession, all the posse of hell cannot violently eject me; but I am cast out when I cowardly surrender to his summons. Thus there needs no more to be my undoing but myself.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
He who cannot resist temptation is not a man.
—Horace Mann (1796–1859) American Educator, Politician, Educationalist