Temptation Quotes - Page 13

• Modern man's besetting temptation is to sacrifice his direct perceptions and spontaneous feelings to his reasoned reflections; to prefer in all circumstances the verdict of his intellect to that of his immediate intuitions.

  Aldous Huxley

  Sacrifice, Men, Reflection

  Aldous Huxley (2000). “Complete Essays: 1926-1929”, Ivan R Dee

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• Idleness is the Dead Sea that swallows all virtues. Be active in business, that temptation may miss her aim; the bird that sits is easily shot.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Sea, Bird, Missing

  Benjamin Franklin (2004). “Poor Richard's Almanack”, p.275, Barnes & Noble Publishing

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• Who will not judge him worthy to be robbed That sets his doors wide open to a thief, And shows the felon where his treasure lies?

  Ben Jonson

  Lying, Doors, Judging

  Ben Jonson, Robert S. Miola (2000). “Every Man in His Humour: Quarto Version”, p.145, Manchester University Press

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• Our generation, like the one before us, must choose. Without the threat of the Cold War, without the pain of economic ruin, without the fresh memory of World War II's slaughter, it is tempting to pursue our private agendas -- to simply sit back and let history unfold. We must resist the temptation.

  William J. Clinton

  Pain, Memories, War

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• Never underestimate the power of temptation to disarm your better senses. Throughout the ages good people surrendered their honor for the empty promise that wealth or power would bring fulfillment and their dignity, good name and self-esteem for the passing pleasures of sex and drugs.

  Michael Josephson

  Sex, Self Esteem, Names

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• Medical science has oppressed us with a new huge burden of longevity. It is in that last undesired decade, when passion is cold, appetites feeble, curiosity dulled and experience has begotten cynicism, that accidia lies in wait as the final temptation to destruction.

  Evelyn Waugh

  Lying, Passion, Waiting

  Evelyn Waugh (1983). “The Essays, Articles and Reviews of Evelyn Waugh”, Methuen

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• The temptations to wrong are many; they spring out of a corrupt nature.

  Matthew Simpson

  Spring

  Matthew Simpson (1885). “Sermons”

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• There is nothing new about humanism. It is the yielding to Satan's first temptation of Adam and Eve: "Ye shall be as gods." (Gen. 3:5)

  Billy Graham

  Firsts, Satan, Adam

  Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Donna Lee Toney (2011). “Billy Graham in Quotes”, Thomas Nelson Inc

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• (You) don't leave the chicken to watch the feed.

  Pat Conroy

  Watches, Chickens

  Pat Conroy (2016). “The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, and The Prince of Tides: Three Classic Novels in One Collection”, p.90, Open Road Media

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• It was a decision to work clean. I just prefer to work that way. I have no problem with comedians who don't work that way. There was a temptation in the early '70s to reconsider. I decided against it.

  Bob Newhart

  Decision, Comedian, Way

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• The temptation to vivify the tale and make it walk abroad on its own legs is hard to deny.

  Gelett Burgess

  Legs, Deny, Tales

  Gelett Burgess (1916). “The Romance of the Commonplace”

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• Money, big money (which is actually a relative concept) is always, under any circumstances, a seduction, a test of morals, a temptation to sin.

  Boris Yeltsin

  Money, Tests, Seduction

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• Liberals want to set up social welfare committees to help whites and West Indians love each other in Birmingham. But all such efforts are doomed to failure. For the strong the weak are just too much of a temptation; and in all fairness it seems to me quite wicked for black people to have tempted the powerful with so much powerless-ness for so long. The obvious answer is to redress this imbalance in power.

  Lewis Nkosi

  Strong, Powerful, Long

  Lewis Nkosi (1983). “Home and exile and other selections”, Addison-Wesley Longman Ltd

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• Many priests and employees at temples work for pay. No one should judge religion on the basis of the shortcomings of such workers. We should frame suitable rules and regulations for preventing them from falling prey to material temptations. The true guiding spirits of religion are those who engage in selfless service while dedicating their entire lives to attaining the vision of God.

  Mata Amritanandamayi

  Spiritual, Fall, Judging

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• Where faith is not continually kept in motion and exercised, it weakens and decreases, so that it must indeed vanish; and yet we do not see nor feel this weakness ourselves, except in times of need and temptation, when unbelief rages too strongly; and yet for that very reason faith must have temptations in which it may battle and grow.

  Martin Luther

  Faith, Battle, Weakness

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• We Catholics must admit that there is a constant temptation among us to avoid the lectionary and the Word of God for private and pious devotions that usually have little power to actually change us or call our ego assumptions into question.

  Richard Rohr

  Catholic, Ego, Littles

  "Preparing for Christmas" by Fr. Richard Rohr, www.huffingtonpost.com. December 6, 2012.

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• The mainstream media may have trouble resisting the temptation to declare that Karl Rove has been demoted, but the truth is quite the contrary. By giving up his role as deputy White House chief of staff, Rove has been freed to do what he does best: shape big issues and develop strategies to win elections.

  Fred Barnes

  Giving Up, Winning, Media

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• I think when you're trying to produce a relationship on screen that doesn't actually exist, perhaps sometimes there's a temptation to look at each other more, to touch each other more...

  Paul Bettany

  Thinking, Trying, Looks

  "Paul Bettany: Playing Darwin with Creation". Interview with Adam Rutherford, www.theguardian.com. February 11, 2009.

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• I'd never say no to surgery in the future, because I feel like, as I get older, I'm going to face temptation more.

  Marcia Cross

  Faces, Surgery, Feels

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• I listen to a lot of old stuff like Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and The Temptations.

  Brett Davern

  Stuff, Marvin, Old Stuff

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• 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.

  Ben Harper

  Relationship, Fall, Wish

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• I ain't no drinking man, but temptation got the best of me.

  Jimmy Buffett

  Drinking, Men, Alcohol

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• Ten thousand million nightmares, temptation by the score, I used to get so high, and still I wanted more. You think my time is wasted in search of who I am, I tried so hard to kill the boy inside the man.

  Ozzy Osbourne

  Boys, Men, Thinking

  Song: Can You Hear Them?, Album: Down To Earth

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• From the cradle to the grave, temptations all around. But no matter how good the fix, its gonna take you down.

  Keith Urban

  Evil, Matter, Cradle

  Song: You're Not My God, Album: Golden Road

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• Put temptation on the unenjoyment line.

  Henry Rollins

  Lines, Politics

  Song: Let That Devil Out

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