#temptation

It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out. ↗

— C.S. Lewis

#funny

Idleness is a constant sin, and labor is a duty. Idleness is the devil's home for temptation and for unprofitable, distracting musings; while labor profit others and ourselves. ↗

— Anne Baxter

#devil #distracting #duty #home #idleness

The criminalization of debt, then, was the criminalization of the very basis of human society. It cannot be overemphasized that in a small community, everyone normally was both a lender and borrower. One can only imagine the tensions and temptations that must have existed in a community—and communities, much though they are based on love, in fact because they are based on love, will always also be full of hatred, rivalry and passion—when it became clear that with sufficiently clever scheming, manipulation, and perhaps a bit of strategic bribery, they could arrange to have almost anyone they hated imprisoned or even hanged. ↗

— David Graeber

#debt #hate #love #society #temptation

There are two influences ever present in the world. One is constructive and elevating and comes from our Heavenly Father; the other is destructive and debasing and comes from Lucifer. We have our agency and make our own choice in life subject to these unseen powers. There is a division line well defined that separates the Lord's territory from Lucifer's. If we live on the Lord's side of the line Lucifer cannot come there to influence us, but if we cross the line into his territory we are in his power. By keeping the commandments of the Lord we are safe on His side of the line, but if we disobey His teachings we voluntarily cross into the zone of temptation and invite the destruction that is ever present there. Knowing this, how anxious we should always be to live on the Lord's side of the line. ↗

— George Albert Smith

#divine-protection #peace #temptation #life

People couldn't become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked. ↗

— Terry Pratchett

#good-and-evil #temptation #wickedness #opportunity

I can resist anything except temptation. ↗

— Oscar Wilde

#wild

The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it. ↗

— Oscar Wilde

#wild

They were close enough that he could feel the hurried beat of her heart. He could feel Charlotte's indecision in every word she didn't say and every move she didn't make. She was tense with uncertainty, quivering with irresolution. She might not be leaning into him, but she wasn't pulling away, either. ↗

— Lauren Willig

#night-jasmine #uncertainty #temptation

I'm not very good with anything physical...' she began as they turned down a hallway she had never seen. He flashed her a grin as they walked. 'I find that hard to believe.' She caught the innuendo in his voice and felt a blush creep to her cheeks. 'You know what I mean. ↗

— Michelle Zink

#griffin #griffin-channing #helen #helen-cartwright #michelle-zink

By understanding the nuances of the world around you and how to survive the temptations, you can rule anything. Even yourself ↗

— Sherrilyn Kenyon

#survive #understanding #temptation