The Bible states that every person on some occasion succumbs to his evil inclination: "For there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." The Talmud speaks of the difficulty in overcoming the evil inclination: “To what is it like, the evil inclination in man? It is like a father who takes his small son, bathes him, douses him with perfume, combs his hair, dresses him up in his finest accoutrements, feeds him, gives him drink, places a bag of money around his neck, and then goes off and puts his son at the front door of a brothel. What can the boy do that he not sin?” In recognition of this difficulty, repentance (and in some cases, affliction) is said to atone for most sins, while the preponderance of good works keeps him within the general class of good men.