4 Maccabees 2:1-3

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

Compatibility of the Law with Reason

2 And why is it amazing that the desires of the mind for the enjoyment of beauty are rendered powerless? ² It is for this reason, certainly, that the temperate Joseph is praised, because by mental effort^[a] he overcame sexual desire. ³ For when he was young and in his prime for intercourse, by his reason he nullified the frenzy^[b] of the passions.