quotations about abstinence
O foolishness of men! that lend their ears
To those budge doctors of the Stoic Fur,
And fetch their precepts from the Cynic Tub,
Praising the lean and sallow Abstinence.
Wherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth
With such a full and unwithdrawing hand,
Covering the earth with odors, fruits, and flocks,
Thronging the Seas with spawn innumberable,
But all to please and sate the curious taste?
JOHN MILTON
Comus
Ah! how much suffering might be spared sometimes by a single abstinence.
LAVATER
attributed, Day's Collacon
Abstinence sows sand all over
The ruddy limbs and flaming hair,
But Desire gratified
Plants fruits of life and beauty there.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Gnomic Verses
She knew of a religious group whose members went door to door, preaching the benefits of self-discipline--abstinence, celibacy or monogamy, vegetarianism--pretty much anything fun was prohibited. They had never come to Vesper's house because her father was a butcher and probably pretty low on their list of possible converts.
COLLEEN CHEN
Dysmorphic Kingdom
In short, abstinence presupposes and is based on a conscious awareness of our needs, desires, and thoughts. The free refusal to act on sexual feelings is healthy when it is in service of a way better than sexual gratification. To reiterate: Saying "no" to sexual gratification (or any gratification) presupposes a "yes."
WILLIAM F. KRAFT
Sexuality and Spirituality, Pursuing Integration
There is health in abstinence.
MARY ASTELL
attributed, Day's Collacon
Dear Teens at Starbucks wearing 'Abstain from Sex 2 Attain Ur Goals' t-shirts: Doesn't it depend on what my goals are?
JOHN GREEN
attributed, goodreads
It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God.
APOSTLE PAUL
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
Abstinence is promoted as the "100 percent effective" way to stop unwanted pregnancies and STDs, regardless of whether one believes in Jesus Christ or not. Although evangelical leaders believe that abstinence is God's design for human sexuality behavior, they say they promote it because it works.
CHRISTINE J. GARDNER
Making Chastity Sexy: The Rhetoric of Evangelical Abstinence Campaigns
Touch not; taste not; handle not.
APOSTLE PAUL
Colossians 2:21
Look, choosing to wait until marriage makes me feel empowered. But if the same choice cripples you, then it wasn't the right one.
RACHAEL ALLEN
The Revenge Playbook
While moral crusaders certainly have occupied a large piece of the abstinence narrative, they by no means, "own" the story. The story of abstinence is one of shifting frames. At times, abstinence paves the way to a higher spiritual connection. At others, it serves as a method of social protest, a form of entertainment, a way to regain a sense of collective identity in the face of a social crisis, or simply a means of adapting to changing laws and ideology. Though various abstinences may appear similar from an outsider's perspective, the frame in which they occur becomes a crucial tool for understanding the acts from an insider's point of view.
JAMIE L. MULLANEY
Everyone Is NOT Doing It: Abstinence and Personal Identity
SAVE SEX instead of SAFE SEX.
ANONYMOUS
Let the pride of the flesh be curbed and restrained with the sharp bit of abstinence.
ARISTOTLE
attributed, Day's Collacon
Call'd to the temple of impure delight,
He that abstains, and he alone, does right.
WILLIAM COWPER
The Progress of Error
Thus the sensuality of the sage is made more keen; abstaining the better to enjoy, that is your philosophy; it is the epicurianism of reason.
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU
Julie; Or, The New Heloise
Abstinence is the best rule of conduct to follow, but only if taken in moderation.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
And must I wholly banish hence
These red and golden juices,
And pay my vows of Abstinence,
That pallidest of Muses?
WILLIAM WATSON
To a Fair Maiden Who Bade Me Shun Wine
Perhaps it's true that in our sex-saturated culture it does take a certain amount of self-discipline to resist having sex, but restraint does not equal morality. And let's be honest: if this were simply about resisting peer pressure and being strong, then the women who have sex because they actively want to -- as appalling as that idea might be to those who advocate abstinence -- wouldn't be scorned. Because the "strength" involved in these women's choice would be about doing what they want despite pressure to the contrary, not about resisting the sex act itself.
JESSICA VALENTI
The Purity Myth
Abstinence is the name of that faculty of mind which enables present desires to be subordinated to future desires.
FRANK ALBERT FETTER
Economic Principles