ABSTINENCE

See also: Alcohol; Drink; Drunkenness

Touch not; taste not; handle not.

The Bible, Colossians 2:21 kjv

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

The Bible, 1 Peter 2:11

Total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.

Augustine of Hippo

Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.

Ambrose Bierce

If you say, “Would there were no wine” because of the drunkards, then you must say, going on by degrees, “Would there were no steel,” because of the murderers, “Would there were no night,” because of the thieves, “Would there were no light,” because of the informers, and “Would there were no women,” because of adultery.

John Chrysostom

All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.

Epictetus

Abstinence without charity is useless.

Gildas

An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons – marriage, or meat, or beer, or cinema; but the moment he starts saying the things are bad in themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he has taken the wrong turning.

C.S. Lewis

Abstinence by itself is not holiness, but if it be discreet it helps us to be holy.

Richard Rolle