“I once said that the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”Oscar Wilde · De Profundis · 1905 · secțiunea II
Resistance feeds desire; surrender consumes it and disarms it.
Wilde argues that resistance amplifies desire, while yielding consumes it and removes its grip. By direct experience, the temptation loses its mystery and becomes a controlled act. For example, someone who allows themselves a dessert after a strict diet no longer feels the same obsessive craving for it.
Wilde takes the idea further: yielding is not just a cure, but a change in how you relate to desire. When you resist, the forbidden object gains an aura. When you fall, it becomes ordinary, measurable, almost banal. Think of the phone you ban at night: the more you resist, the more vividly you imagine it. If you use it for five conscious minutes, the charm of secrecy fades. Temptation lives on prohibition, not on the object itself. Once access becomes a choice rather than a fall, the power shifts to you. But a question remains: what happens when desire returns, once the mystery is gone?
Why it matters It offers a practical strategy for managing everyday impulses.