“It is very pleasant to scratch an itching ring-worm, but the sensation one gets afterwards is very painful and intolerable. In the same way the pleasures of this world are very attractive in the beginning, but their consequences are terrible to contemplate and hard to endure.”

Attributed in Instructions to Young Sportsmen (1824) by Colonel Peter Hawker

Source: The Royal Tenenbaums

The Story of Wong Choi and the Merchant Teen King's Thumb
Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat (1928)

1970s-, The Captains, the Kings, and Taylor Caldwell (1978)

"Big Macs vs. The Naked Chef" http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000024.html

Source: Heliogabalus

"General Petraeus’s Opening Statement" (23 January 2007) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/world/middleeast/24petraeustextcnd.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
Context: There are no easy choices. The way ahead will be very hard. Progress will require determination and difficult U. S. and Iraqi actions, especially the latter, as ultimately the outcome will be determined by the Iraqis. But hard is not hopeless, and if confirmed, I pledge to do my utmost to lead our wonderful men and women in uniform and those of our coalition partners in Iraq as we endeavor to help the Iraqis make the most of the opportunity our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have given to them.

From the ninth book, "The Book of Secrets"
The Pillow Book