Abbaye says: "The evil inclination is stronger in learned men than in other people," as I will explain. Abbaye says: "I once heard a man say to a woman, 'Tomorrow morning we will walk together through the field'." Thereupon Abbaye decided to follow them to make sure that they should (God forbid!) not commit a sin, and he followed them for three miles until they came to a meadow. There they parted, the woman going north and the man south. Then Abbaye heard the man say to the woman, "We have been out together a long time, it would be a pleasure if we could go out together again."

And though they did not know that Abbaye was following them, neither of the two showed any intention of committing a sin. Thereupon Abbaye remarked: "If I had been in the company of that woman as that man was, I would not have been able to restrain myself from sin."

Then he went and lay down in front of the house, absorbed in thoughts and very much worried. An old man came to him and taught him thus: "The greater a man is, the stronger is his evil inclination."

Rabbi Isaac says: "The evil inclination of a man grows stronger day by day, as the Bible says: 'Only evil continually' (Gen. 6.5), which means that the evil inclination becomes more furious daily and desires to put the person to death, as the Bible says: 'The wicked (rasha') watcheth the righteous and seeketh to slay him' (Ps. 37.32), which means that the evil inclination, which is called rasha' (wicked), lies in wait against the righteous that he may take his life. If the Holy One, blessed be He, should not come to one's aid, one would not be able to withstand the evil inclination, as the Bible says: 'The Lord will not forsake him into his hand' (Ps. 37.33), meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not leave anyone in the power of the evil inclination."

Rabbi Ishmael says: "If the evil inclination seeks to overpower you, go to the bet hamidrash: For even though he be as hard as a stone, he must depart from you, for the evil inclination cannot remain with a man who studies and performs pious deeds." A woman should perform pious deeds, since she cannot study, and the evil inclination will leave her.