Emerson argues that resisting temptation can strengthen the qualities needed to resist it again. The struggle itself becomes a form of training: by choosing against an impulse, a person exercises judgement, discipline and self-command. In this sense, the difficulty of the temptation contributes to the development of character.

Within Compensation, the statement reflects Emerson’s wider belief that challenges can produce corresponding forms of strength. The comparison in the surrounding passage is metaphorical and expressed in 19th-century terms; its purpose is to illustrate the idea that overcoming an opposing force can leave a person better equipped for future trials. Emerson therefore presents moral resistance not simply as avoiding wrongdoing, but as a process through which capacity is developed. The quotation links self-control with growth, suggesting that strength is formed through the repeated practice of choosing according to principle rather than impulse.

Full quotation

“As the Sandwich Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptation we resist.”