Quotes About Temptation

One never learns how the witch becomes wicked or if it was the right choice for he — is it ever the right choice?

Research—and my own experience—suggests that the less we indulge in something, the less we want it. When we believe that a craving will remain unsatisfied, it may diminish; cravings are more provoked by possibility than by denial.

I'm not tempted by things I've decided are off-limits, but once I've started something, I have trouble stopping. If I never do something, it requires no self-control for me; if I do something sometimes, it requires enormous self-control.

Moral Licensing Loophole: In moral licensing, we give ourselves permission to do something "bad" (eat potato chips, bust the budget) because we've been "good." We reason that we've earned it or deserve it.

If I never do something, it requires no self-control for me; if I do something sometimes, it requires enormous self-control.

This freedom from decision making is crucial, because when I have to decide—which often involves resisting temptation or postponing gratification—I tax my self-control.

The Strategy of Safeguards requires us to take a very realistic—perhaps even fatalistic—look at ourselves. But while acknowledging the likelihood of temptation and failure may seem like a defeatist approach, it helps us identify, avoid, and surmount our likely stumbling blocks.

Arranging to Fail Loophole: It's odd. Instead of fleeing temptation, we often plan to succumb.

He gave his assistant a stamped, addressed envelope with a check he'd written to an "anti-charity," an organization whose policies he passionately opposes, with the instruction to mail the check if he had a drink before the time was up.

is surprising how soon a desire will die of inanition if it be never fed.

Eventually I learned to reject this advice. Somehow, I figured out that it was easier for me to resist certain temptations by never giving in to them.

It would be impossible for me to eat one square of chocolate a day. For the rest of the day, I'd be thinking about that bar of chocolate. In fact, I discovered that the question "Could you eat one square of chocolate every day?" is a good way to distinguish Abstainers from Moderators. All Moderators seem to keep a bar of chocolate stashed away to eat one square at a time. (Maybe this explains the mystery of why chocolate bars are divided into squares.)

I concluded that the real key to habits is decision making—or, more accurately, the lack of decision making. …A habit requires no decision from me, because I've already decided. …This freedom from decision making is crucial, because when I have to decide—which often involves resisting temptation or postponing gratification—I tax my self-control.

gave up Nutella in December 2011. A few years later I thought I would be able to handle the Nutella once more so I bought two jars on sale. I ate 4,000 calories of Nutella over 36 hours.

By helping us to feel energetic and happy, healthy treats can play a key role in fostering good habits, but we must guard against the temptations of unhealthy treats. The pleasure lasts a minute, but then feelings of guilt, regret, loss of control, and other negative consequences kick in.

One mustn't look at the abyss, because there is at the bottom an inexpressible charm which attracts us.

We must not touch our idols; the gilt sticks to our fingers.

Ah! thought Rodolphe, turning very pale, that was what she came for. At last he said with a calm air— Dear madame, I have not got them. He did not lie. If he had had them, he would, no doubt, have given them, although it is generally disagreeable to do such fine things: a demand for money being, of all the winds that blow upon love, the coldest and most destructive.

We should not touch our idols: their gilding will remain on our hands.

No hay que tocar a los ídolos: su dorado se nos queda en las manos

Il ne faut pas toucher aux idoles: la dorure en reste aux mains.

Ä°nsan, ÅŸeytan?n yan?na yaklaÅŸmas?na izin verdi mi, art?k iradesi üzerindeki denetimini kaybeder. Gözleri kapan?r; iyiyle kötüyü, doÄŸruyla yanl??? ay?ramaz olur.

That is but the device of the devil to seduce the faithful more easily. He attacks the strong through the mind, the weak through the flesh.

First he anointed her eyes, once so covetous of all earthly luxuries; then her nostrils, so gluttonous of caressing breezes and amorous scents; then her mouth, so prompt to lie, so defiant in pride, so loud in lust; then her hands that had thrilled to voluptuous contacts; and finally the soles of her feet, once so swift when she had hastened to slake her desires, and now never to walk again.