O cunning enemy that, to catch a saint,
With saints dost bait thy hook: most dangerous
Is read more

O cunning enemy that, to catch a saint,
With saints dost bait thy hook: most dangerous
Is that temptation that doth goad us on
To sin in loving virtue.

As the Sandwich-Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain read more

As the Sandwich-Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptations we resist.

Every conquering temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes read more

Every conquering temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.

But something may be done that we will not;
And sometimes we are devils to ourselves
When read more

But something may be done that we will not;
And sometimes we are devils to ourselves
When we will tempt the frailty of our powers,
Presuming on their changeful potency.

I deal with temptation by yielding to it

I deal with temptation by yielding to it

I never resist temptation, because I have found that things that
are bad for me do not tempt me.

I never resist temptation, because I have found that things that
are bad for me do not tempt me.

But Satan now is wiser than of yore,
And tempts by making rich, not making poor.

But Satan now is wiser than of yore,
And tempts by making rich, not making poor.

Tempt not a desperate man.

Tempt not a desperate man.

What's done we partly may compute,
But know not what's resisted.

What's done we partly may compute,
But know not what's resisted.