TEMPTATION.
How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds
Makes ill deeds done!
King John, Act iv. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE.
O opportunity, thy guilt is great!
'T is thou that executest the traitor's treason;
Thou sett'st the wolf where he the lamb may get;
Whoever plots the sin, thou 'point'st the season;
'T is thou that spurn'st at right, at law, at reason.
The Rape of Lucrece. SHAKESPEARE.
Sometimes we are devils to ourselves,
When we will tempt the frailty of our powers,
Presuming on their changeful potency.
Troilus and Cressida, Act iv. Sc. 4. SHAKESPEARE.
In part to blame is she.
Which hath without consent bin only tride;
He comes too neere, that comes to be denide.
A Wife. SIR T. OVERBURY.
Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
Essay on Man. Epistle II. A. POPE.
Temptations hurt not, though they have accesse;
Satan o'ercomes none but by willingnesse.
Hesperides' Temptations. R. HERRICK.