--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Temptation is like a knife, that may…" description: "\"Temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat or the throat of a man; it may be his food or his poison, his exercise or his destruction\" — J..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0e/john-owen-1415_destruction_temptation-is-like-a-knife-that-may-eith_200365.png" --- # Temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat… ![“Temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat or the throat of a man; it may be his food or his poison, his exercise or his destruction” quote by John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0e/john-owen-1415_destruction_temptation-is-like-a-knife-that-may-eith_200365.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0e/john-owen-1415_destruction_temptation-is-like-a-knife-that-may-eith_200365.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0e/john-owen-1415_destruction_temptation-is-like-a-knife-that-may-eith_200365.png) > “Temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat or the throat of a man; it may be his food or his poison, his exercise or his destruction” [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Temptation can be either beneficial or destructive, depending on how it’s handled. **In simple terms:** Temptation can help or harm. Key Takeaway Discern and channel temptation wisely. Themes morality self‑control dual nature Mood thoughtful serious Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - religious practice - personal decision - risk assessment Key Concepts ethical decision‑making spiritual warfare human frailty Questions to Reflect On - How do you distinguish beneficial risk? - What safeguards protect you from harm? A Different Perspective Ignoring temptation may miss growth opportunities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Poison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poison/) [Temptation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temptation/) ## Related quotes > [The damning tho't stuck in my throat and cut me like a knife, That she, whom all my life I'd loved, should be another's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-glassford-bell/the-damning-tho-t-stuck-in-my-throat-and-cut-me-like-a-knife-that-she/) Henry Glassford Bell > [“Most people want to be delivered from temptation but would like it to keep in touch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-orben/most-people-want-to-be-delivered-from-temptation-but-would-like-it-to/) [Robert Orben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-orben/) > [Most people would like to be delivered from temptation but would like it to keep in touch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-orben/most-people-would-like-to-be-delivered-from-temptation-but-would-like/) [Robert Orben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-orben/) > [Every time you defeat a temptation, you become more like Jesus!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/every-time-you-defeat-a-temptation-you-become-more-like-jesus/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [A temptation is the universe's gracious way of allowing a soul to evolve without creating negative karma. In other words, a temptation is like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/a-temptation-is-the-universe-s-gracious-way-of-allowing-a-soul-to/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [The way you cut your meat reflects the way you live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-way-you-cut-your-meat-reflects-the-way-you-live/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Kessa began to cut her meat into tiny pieces. As a whole it was unmanageable, frightening; but divided and arranged, the meat could be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-levenkron/kessa-began-to-cut-her-meat-into-tiny-pieces-as-a-whole-it-was/) [Steven Levenkron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-levenkron/) > [I think if youre going to cut meat and fish out of your diet, you dont want to feel youre missing out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccartney/i-think-if-youre-going-to-cut-meat-and-fish-out-of-your-diet-you-dont/) [Mary McCartney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccartney/) > [This is not Winterfell', he told him as he cut his meat with fork and dagger. 'On the Wall, a man gets only what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-is-not-winterfell-he-told-him-as-he-cut-his-meat-with-fork-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I adore recipes that make use of one cut of meat or a whole animal to create a complex dish, loaded with flavour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yotam-ottolenghi/i-adore-recipes-that-make-use-of-one-cut-of-meat-or-a-whole-animal-to/) [Yotam Ottolenghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yotam-ottolenghi/) > [Vegetables are interesting but lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/vegetables-are-interesting-but-lack-a-sense-of-purpose-when/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [I know how to cut meat, yeah. I know how to cook, basically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stellan-skarsgard/i-know-how-to-cut-meat-yeah-i-know-how-to-cook-basically/) [Stellan Skarsgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stellan-skarsgard/) > [Someone once told me that religion is like a knife: You can stab someone with it, or you can slice bread with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-farmiga/someone-once-told-me-that-religion-is-like-a-knife-you-can-stab/) [Vera Farmiga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-farmiga/) > [It cuts like a knife, but it feels so right...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-adams/it-cuts-like-a-knife-but-it-feels-so-right/) [Bryan Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-adams/) > [“Power is like a knife. It can be used to cut bread to share with your neighbor or stab you in the back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadiqua-hamdan/power-is-like-a-knife-it-can-be-used-to-cut-bread-to-share-with-your/) [Sadiqua Hamdan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadiqua-hamdan/) ## More by John Owen > [God hath work to do in this world; and to desert it because of its difficulties and entanglements, is to cast off His authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/god-hath-work-to-do-in-this-world-and-to-desert-it-because-of-its/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation. Let this be one aspect of our daily intercession: "God, preserve my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/if-we-do-not-abide-in-prayer-we-will-abide-in-temptation-let-this-be/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [The least grace is a better security for heaven than the greatest gifts or privileges whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/the-least-grace-is-a-better-security-for-heaven-than-the-greatest/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [“Our belief of the Scriptures to be the word of God, or a divine revelation, and our understanding of the mind and will of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/our-belief-of-the-scriptures-to-be-the-word-of-god-or-a-divine/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [How can we possibly believe the promises concerning Heaven, immortality, and glory, when we do not believe the promises concerning our present life? And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/how-can-we-possibly-believe-the-promises-concerning-heaven/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [It must be observed, that the best of men, the most holy and spiritually minded, may have, nay, ought to have, their thoughts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/it-must-be-observed-that-the-best-of-men-the-most-holy-and/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [I will not judge a person to be spiritually dead whom I have judged formerly to have had spiritual life, though I see him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/i-will-not-judge-a-person-to-be-spiritually-dead-whom-i-have-judged/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [“And those who pretend to be teachers of others, and yet despise his teaching assistance, will one day find that they undertook a work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/and-those-who-pretend-to-be-teachers-of-others-and-yet-despise-his/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [Spiritual wisdom consists in finding out the subtleties, policies, and depths of any indwelling sin... to trace this serpent in all its turnings and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/spiritual-wisdom-consists-in-finding-out-the-subtleties-policies-and/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [Christ by his death destroying the works of the devil, procuring the Spirit for us, hath so killed sin, as to its reign in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/christ-by-his-death-destroying-the-works-of-the-devil-procuring-the/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [A man may easier see without eyes, speak without a tongue, than truly mortify one sin without the Spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/a-man-may-easier-see-without-eyes-speak-without-a-tongue-than-truly/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [Christ's blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/christ-s-blood-is-the-great-sovereign-remedy-for-sin-sick-souls/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [Sin aims always at the utmost; every time it rises up to tempt or entice, if it has its own way it will go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/sin-aims-always-at-the-utmost-every-time-it-rises-up-to-tempt-or/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [Never was sin seen to be more abominably sinful and full of provocation than when the burden of it was upon the shoulders of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/never-was-sin-seen-to-be-more-abominably-sinful-and-full-of/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [He, then, that would really, thoroughly, and acceptably mortify any disquieting lust, let him take care to be equally diligent in all parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/he-then-that-would-really-thoroughly-and-acceptably-mortify-any/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) [Explore all 244 John Owen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) ## More Destruction quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Perhaps the greatest and least visible form of impoverishment caused by the Corporate State is the destruction of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/perhaps-the-greatest-and-least-visible-form-of-impoverishment-caused/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hundreds of millions of human beings on our planet increasingly suffer from unemployment, poverty, hunger, and the destruction of their families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-kung/hundreds-of-millions-of-human-beings-on-our-planet-increasingly/) [Hans Kung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-kung/) > [Away with you, water, destruction of wine!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/away-with-you-water-destruction-of-wine/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [ No visiting angel, or explorer from another planet, could have guessed that this bland orb \[Earth\] teemed with vermin, with world-mastering, self-torturing, incipiently angelic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/no-visiting-angel-or-explorer-from-another-planet-could-have-guessed/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-far-as-i-know-the-question-of-whether-and-how-it-could-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is there some lesson on how to be friends? I think what it means is that central to living a life that is good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/is-there-some-lesson-on-how-to-be-friends-i-think-what-it-means-is/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“We're on the eve of destruction. Men have lost all sense of honor. Power has become their faith instead of faith being their power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atiq-rahimi/we-re-on-the-eve-of-destruction-men-have-lost-all-sense-of-honor/) Atiq Rahimi [Browse all 3,161 Destruction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat or the throat of a man; it may be his food or his poison, his exercise or his destruction", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Owen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/temptation-is-like-a-knife-that-may-either-cut-the-meat-or-the-throat/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Destruction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/temptation-is-like-a-knife-that-may-either-cut-the-meat-or-the-throat/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0e/john-owen-1415_destruction_temptation-is-like-a-knife-that-may-eith_200365.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0e/john-owen-1415_destruction_temptation-is-like-a-knife-that-may-eith_200365.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0e/john-owen-1415_destruction_temptation-is-like-a-knife-that-may-eith_200365.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat or the throat of a man; it may be his food or his…” — John Owen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Owen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Temptation is like a knife, that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/temptation-is-like-a-knife-that-may-either-cut-the-meat-or-the-throat/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/temptation-is-like-a-knife-that-may-either-cut-the-meat-or-the-throat/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```