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The Forum: 21/01/2012 GMT

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21/01/2012 GMT

BBC World Service - The Forum, 21/01/2012 GMT

Are you able to resist temptation? 

Professor of Psychology Roy Baumeister says we spend a quarter of our waking hours denying our desires, but we have a limited stock of willpower; it is a finite resource that gets used up.  

Dr Cleo Van Velsen, Consultant Psychiatrist in Forensic Psychotherapy, doesn't believe in willpower. Self improvement is a gradual process and all we can do is try, fail, and fail better the next time.  

And Ivorian author, poet, and painter Veronique Tadjo talks about the willpower of the artist and how desire can inspire.

Illustration by Emily Kasriel: can we resist our desires?

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21/01/2012 GMT

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