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Oscar Wilde - "I can resist everything except temptation."

Author
Andrew McGivern
Published
Thu 04 Sep 2025
Episode Link
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thedailyquote/episodes/Oscar-Wilde---I-can-resist-everything-except-temptation-e37ns7a

Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a positive way. I'm your host, Andrew McGivern, for September 4th.Today is National Eat a Second Dessert Day, a wonderfully indulgent holiday that gives us permission to throw caution to the wind and enjoy life's sweeter moments. In a world that's often focused on restraint, discipline, and "everything in moderation" ,this delightful day reminds us that sometimes – just sometimes – it's perfectly okay to have that second slice of cake, the extra scoop of ice cream, or both the chocolate chip cookie AND the brownie.There's something beautifully rebellious about this holiday. It celebrates not just dessert, but the idea that life is meant to be savored. After all, how many times have we sat at a restaurant, finished our meal, and found ourselves torn between the sensible choice and the delicious one? Today gives us permission to choose delicious – twice.Today's quote comes from Oscar Wilde, the Irish playwright and poet known for his wit and love of life's pleasures, who said:"I can resist everything except temptation."Oscar Wilde understood something that National Eat a Second Dessert Day celebrates perfectly – sometimes the most honest thing we can do is acknowledge our desires instead of pretending we don't have them. Wilde's quote isn't about being weak-willed; it's about being human.Think about it – when we deny ourselves small pleasures completely, we often end up more obsessed with them than if we'd just enjoyed them mindfully in the first place. There's wisdom in Wilde's playful admission that temptation is, well, tempting. And sometimes the healthiest response isn't rigid resistance, but conscious indulgence.This doesn't mean throwing all self-care out the window, but rather recognizing that life's sweetness – literally and figuratively – is meant to be enjoyed. When we constantly deny ourselves simple pleasures, we risk becoming so focused on what we can't have that we forget to appreciate what we can.That's the wisdom both Wilde and this holiday offer us: sometimes the most reasonable thing to do is to be a little unreasonable.So today, as we celebrate National Eat a Second Dessert Day, let's embrace Oscar Wilde's honest acknowledgment of human nature. Life is full of genuine temptations that bring us joy – an extra cookie, a longer conversation with a friend, one more chapter of a good book.Maybe today's the day to stop resisting every small pleasure and instead choose to savor them. After all, as Wilde knew, a life without any temptation might be virtuous, but it's probably not nearly as sweet.That's going to do it for today. I'm Andrew McGivern, signing off for now, but I'll be back tomorrow – same pod time, same pod station – with another Daily Quote.

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