. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence
, or abstention from alcohol
or food
. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or practical considerations.
Abstinence may also refer to drugs. For example you can abstain from smoking.
Abstinence has diverse forms. Commonly it refers to a temporary or partial abstinence from food, as in fasting
.
The great advantage of abstinence education is that it introduces teenagers to hypocrisy at an early age.
Let the fundamentalist Christians raise losers. I want my teenagers to have as much sex as they can possibly get.
If God wanted teenagers to be abstinent, puberty would begin at twenty.
Abstainer, n. A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.
Self denial is not a virtue: it is only the effect of prudence on rascality.
Usez, n'abusez point […] L'abstinence ou l'excès ne fit jamais d'heureux.