Temptation Quotes

Age does not bring wisdom... but it does give perspective... and the saddest sight of all is to see, far behind you, temptations you've resisted.

I am of a different mind ten times in the course of a day. But I resist the devil, and often it is with a fart that I chase him away. When he tempts me with silly sins I say, 'Devil, yesterday I broke wind too. Have you written it down on your list?

Do not compare, do not measure. No other way is like yours. All other ways deceive and tempt you. You must fulfill the way that is in you.

Evil is whatever distracts.

It is meant that noble minds keep ever with their likes; for who so firm that cannot be seduced.

The Devil invented gambling.

[The devil] al­ways sends er­rors into the world in pairs—pairs of op­posites. And he al­ways en­cour­ages us to spend a lot of time think­ing about which is the worse.... He re­lies on your ex­tra dis­like of the one er­ror to draw you grad­u­ally into the op­po­site one. But do not let us be fooled. We have to keep our eyes on the goal and go straight through be­tween both er­rors. We have no other con­cern than that with ei­ther of them.

Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.

Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. ... We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means—the only complete realist.

Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.

I can resist everything except temptation.

No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good...Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is.

You look like an angel, walk like an angel, talk like an angel. But I got wise, you're the devil in disguise.

When God makes a beautiful woman, the devil opens a new register.

In a room sit three great men, a king, a priest, and a rich man with his gold. Between them stands a sellsword, a little man of common birth and no great mind. Each of the great ones bids him slay the other two. ‘Do it,’ says the king, ‘for I am your lawful ruler.’ ‘Do it,’ says the priest, ‘for I command you in the names of the gods.’ ‘Do it,’ says the rich man, ‘and all this gold shall be yours.’ So tell me—who lives and who dies?

O Master, make me chaste, but not yet!

Satan, the leader or dictator of devils, is the opposite, not of God, but of Michael.

Whenever the devil harasses you, seek the company of men or drink more, or joke and talk nonsense, or do some other merry thing. Sometimes we must drink more, sport, recreate ourselves, and even sin a little to spite the devil, so that we leave him no place for troubling our consciences with trifles. We are conquered if we try too conscientiously not to sin at all. So when the devil says to you: do not drink, answer him: I will drink, and right freely, just because you tell me not to.

In temptations against chastity, the spiritual masters advise us, not so much to contend with the bad thought, as to turn the mind to some spiritual, or, at least, indifferent object. It is useful to combat other bad thoughts face to face, but not thoughts of impurity.

Mountains of gold would not seduce some men, yet flattery would break them down.

The Devil ... is much better served by exploiting our virtues than by appealing to our lower passions; consequently, it is when the Devil looks most noble and reasonable that he is most dangerous.

Other vices make their own way; this makes way for all vices. He that is a drunkard is qualified for all vice.

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

Every great story seems to begin with a snake.

There were times when I was tempted to do wrong, and could have went that way. But I knew it wasn't for me. I was told enough times that it catches up with you, and I believe it.