Good habits result from resisting temptation.
Ancient Proverb
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life.
Bible, New Testament2, James, Chapter 1, Verse 12
I never resist temptation because I have found that things that are bad for me do not tempt1 me.
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950), The Apple Cart (1930)
There is not any memory with less satisfaction than the memory of some temptation we resisted.
James Branch Cabell (1879 - 1958)
Those who flee temptation generally leave a forwarding address.
Lane Olinghouse
I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.
Mae West (1892 - 1980)
There are several good protections against temptations, but the surest is cowardice3.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910), Following the Equator (1897)
I can resist anything but temptation.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892, Act I
The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing4 for the things it has forbidden to itself.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891
Why comes temptation, but for man to meet and master and crouch5 beneath his foot, and so be pedestaled in triumph?
Robert Browning (1812 - 1889)
Most people would like to be delivered from temptation but would like it to keep in touch.
Robert Orben
The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason.
T. S. Eliot (1888 - 1965)
Temptation rarely comes in working hours. It is in their leisure time that men are made or marred6.
W. N. Taylor
Often the best way to overcome desire is to satisfy it.
W. Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965), The Razor's Edge, 1943
It is good to be without vices7, but it is not good to be without temptations.
Walter Bagehot (1826 - 1877), "Biographical Studies", 1863
