Sometimes a passionate person in the prime of life finds himself in a situation where everything is permitted and available (for a price or free).
Then he must struggle to control his thoughts and deeds, his motivation being the fear of God and His glory.
But the need to engage in ferocious battle applies as well to the undisturbed denizen of the study hall.
He must protect his soul with vigor and fear against his particular temptations, precisely because he is a scholar.
If he fails, he will be deemed guiltier than the public man of passion because, since he knows more, his misdeed is that much more willful.
The farther a sinner is from God and His Torah, the less drastic are his descent and guilt.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From Understanding the Tanya, Ch. 30, by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz