Temptation quotes
783 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
"Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided, but because we cannot prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them nest in our hair."
"But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."
"Plainness has its peculiar temptations and vices quite as much as beauty."
"Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife."
"Knowledge of God's Word is a bulwark against deception, temptation, accusation, even persecution."
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside temptation — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"Temptation and testing (or a trial) are two sides of the same coin. Satan uses an occasion or a person to tempt us to fall; God uses the same to try us and make us stronger."
"Temptation can be tormenting, but remember: The torment of temptation to sin is nothing to compare with the torment of the consequences of sin. Remorse and regret cannot compensate for sin....though sins can be forgiven immediately - the consequences can last a lifetime"
"To tempt, and to be tempted, are things very nearly allied, and, in spite of the finest maxims of morality impressed upon the mind, whenever feeling has anything to do in the matter, no sooner is it excited than we have already gone vastly farther than we are aware of, and I have yet to learn how it is possible to prevent its being excited."
"For every great temptation there will be many small ones. Wolves and bears are more dangerous than flies, but we are bothered most by flies."
"This is the great work of a man: always to take the blame for his own sins before God, and toexpect temptation to his last breath."
"Expect temptation to your last breath."
"Hard to say what's right when all I wanna do is wrong."
"The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason."
"There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable."
"Realize that enough hidden strength lies within you to overcome all obstacles and temptations. Bring forth that indomitable power and energy."
"God delights in our temptations and yet hates them. He delights in them when they drive us to prayer; he hates them when they drive us to despair."
"The only thing I cannot resist is temptation."
"Love cries victory when the tears of a woman become the sole defence of her virtue."
"The biggest human temptation is... to settle for too little."
"It is not the temptations you have, but the decision you make about them that counts."
"The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it... I can resist everything but temptation."
"Terrible is the temptation to be good."
"You’d get very rich if you thought of yourself as having a card with only twenty punches in a lifetime, and every financial decision used up one punch. You’d resist the temptation to dabble. You’d make more good decisions and you’d make more big decisions."
"Every conquering temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before."
"Max Weber was right in subscribing to the view that one need not be Caesar in order to understand Caesar. But there is a temptation for us theoretical sociologists to act sometimes as though it is not necessary even to study Caesar in order to understand him. Yet we know that the interplay of theory and research makes both for understanding of the specific case and expansion of the general rule."
