William F. Buckley Jr. Quotes

We say no to lots of things that would please us. I would like to punch people every now and then, but I don't. I would like to have something for free rather than pay for it. I would like to skip to the front of the line... I don't mean to brush aside the taste of meat, which is a powerful attraction. But its power is not without limit.

The passions are like fire, useful in a thousand ways and dangerous only in one, through their excess.

The flesh endures the storms of the present alone; the mind, those of the past and future as well as the present. Gluttony is a lust of the mind.

There are two areas where you can't stop people misbehaving: eating and sex

Many a man gets weary of clamping down on his rough impulses, which if given occasional release would encourage the living of life with salt in it, in place of dust.

Our nature hardly allows us to have enough of anything without having too much.

Men are victims of their own impulses.

What makes resisting temptation difficult for many people is they don't want to discourage it completely.

Temptation to behave is terrible.

I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.

I can resist everything except temptation.

It needs courage to throw oneself forward, but it needs no less to hold oneself back.

I always feel like there's some behaviour that we're all capable - we have our inhibitions protecting from indulging in certain appetites or developing certain appetites.

When it comes to power as it functions between humans, it all comes down to desire. If you know what someone wants, you can control them. It is as simple as that. And the reverse is also true: If you have control over your own desires, no one will ever own you. As humans, we are plagued with desire - it consumes us, it fuels us, it destroys us.

I'm naturally inclined to have sex with every beautiful woman I see. But that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.

Lust has less logic than love, sometimes, but it's easier to fight.

Sex is not sinful, but sin has perverted it.

Protect me from what I want.

Subdue your appetites, my dears, and you've conquered human nature.

He is lost who is possessed by carnal desire.

Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.

I love having wine with my meals. And if I splurge, I'm going to splurge big, because if I deny my cravings, it just ends up backfiring on me, you know?

The proximity of a desirable thing tempts one to overindulgence. On that path lies danger.

For to tempt and to be tempted are things very nearly allied - whenever feeling has anything to do in the matter, no sooner is it excited than we have already gone vastly farther than we are aware of.

It's a wise thing to hold back.