"After you have written a thing and you reread it, there is always the temptation to fix it up, to improve it, to remove its poison, blunt its sting."
Temptation quotes
Temptation
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Temptation quotes (page 9 of 40)
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"Temptations will no more prevail over a contented man, than a dart that is thrown against a brazen wall."
"Arbitrary power is the natural object of temptation to a prince, as wine and women to a young fellow, or a bribe to a judge, or avarice to old age."
"You must learn that if you are a Christian, you will without a doubt experience all kinds of opposition and evil inclinations in the flesh. For when you have faith, there will be a hundred more evil thoughts and a hundred more temptations than before."
"For they who think they make an end of temptation by yeilding to it, only set themselves on fire the more."
"... for it is the small temptations which undermine integrity unless we watch and pray and never think them too trivial to be resisted."
"Nothing has a more sinister effect on art than the artist's desire to prove that he's good. The terrible temptation of idealism!"
"Between the demand to be clear,and the temptation to be obscure, impossible to decide which deserves more respect."
"Wish there was something that I could say or do, I can resist anything but the temptation from you. But I'd rather walk alone than chase you around, I'd rather fall myself then let you drag me on down."
"Nor eye in a letter, nor hand in a purse, nor ear in the secret of another."
"Our response to temptation reveals the substance of our faith."
"Which is scarier-- lust or temptation?"
"I often long to . . . give up my life to love of my neighbour. This is really a temptation."
"I always loved Little Anthony and the Imperials. They were like the precursors of the Temptations. I loved their music."
"Only strong characters can resist the temptation of superficial analysis."
"The work on satisfactory formulation of technical patents was a true blessing for me. It compelled me to be many-sided in thought, and also offered important stimulation for thought about physics. Following a practical profession is a blessing for people of my type. Because the academic career puts a young person in a sort of compulsory situation to produce scientific papers in impressive quantity, a temptation to superficiality arises that only strong characters are able to resist."
"I do not want to frighten you by telling you about the temptations life will bring. Anyone who is healthy in spirit will overcome them. But there is something I want you to realize. It does not matter so much what you do. What matters is whether your soul is harmed by what you do. If your soul is harmed, something irreparable happens, the extent of which you won't realize until it will be too late."
"And so, resisting the temptation to wallow in artistic remorse, I prefer to leave both well and ill alone and to think about something else"
"Mature people must find their own ways to cope with their own temptations."
"I do not have a merchandise line. I don't sell knives or apparel. Though I have been approached to endorse various products from liquor to airlines to automobiles to pharmaceuticals dozens of times, I have managed to resist the temptation."