4 Maccabees 2:3

¹And what wonder? if the lusts of the soul, after participation with what is beautiful, are frustrated,

²on this ground, therefore, the temperate Joseph is praised in that by reasoning, he subdued, on reflection, the indulgence of sense.

— 4 Maccabees 2:3 —

⁴And it is not merely the stimulus of sensual indulgence, but that of every desire, that reasoning is able to master.

⁵For instance, the law says, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor anything that belongs to thy neighbor.