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Samuel Butler

English novelist who described a fictitious land he called Erewhon (1835-1902) English poet (1612-1680)

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Famous quotes by Samuel Butler:Sort:PopularA - Z

Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature.
The best liar is he who makes the smallest amount of lying go the longest way.
Friendship is like money, easier made than kept.
A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg.
All animals except man know that the ultimate of life is to enjoy it.
All philosophies, if you ride them, are nonsense, but some are greater nonsense than others.
All progress is based on a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.
All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.
An apology for the devil it must be remembered that we have heard only one side of the case God has written all the books.
An apology for the devil: it must be remembered that we have heard one side of the case. God has written all the books.
Any fool can tell the truth, but it requires a man of some sense to know how to lie well.
Arguments are like fire-arms which a man may keep at home but should not carry about with him.
Every man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.
For truth is precious and divine Too rich a pearl for carnal swine.
Genius might be described as a supreme capacity for getting its possessors into trouble of all kinds.
God cannot alter the past, but historians can.
God is Love -- I dare say. But what a mischievous devil Love is
He that is down can fall no lower.
I consider being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill.
I do not mind lying but I hate inaccuracy.
I do not mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy.
If the headache would only precede the intoxication, alcoholism would be a virtue.
If we attend continually and promptly to the little that we can do, we shall ere long be surprised to find how little remains that we cannot do.
It does not matter much what a man hates provided he hates something.
It has beeen said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The want of money is so quite as truly.
It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The want of money is so quite as truly.
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at all.
It is in the uncompromisingness with which dogma is held and not in the dogma, or want of dogma, that the danger lies.
Life is like music, it must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule. Nevertheless one had better know the rules, for they sometimes guide in doubtful cases, though not often.
Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.
Life is like playing the violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.
Life is not an exact science, it is an art.
Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises.
Logic is like the sword--those who appeal to it shall perish by it.
Logic is like the sword: those who appeal to it shall perish by it.
Loyalty is still the same,Whether it win or lose the gameTrue as a dial to the sun,Although it be not shined upon.
Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.
Man, unlike the animals, has never learned that the sole purpose of life is to enjoy it.
Men should not try to overstrain their goodness more than any other faculty.
People care more about being thought to have taste than about being good, clever, or amiable.
The advantage of doing one's praising for oneself is that one can lay it on so thick and in exactly the right places.
The course of true anything does not run smooth.
The man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore.
The three most important parts a man has are, briefly, his private parts, his money and his religious beliefs.
The voice of the Lord is the voice of common sense, which is shared by all that is
There are two great rules in life, the one general and the other particular. The first is that every one can in the end get what he wants if he only tries. This is the general rule. The particular rule is that every individual is more or less of an exception to the general rule.
To do great work a man must be very idle as well as very industrious.
To live is like love, all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.
Truth is generally kindness, but where the two diverge and collide, kindness should override truth.
What makes all doctrines plain and clear- About two hundred pounds a year. And that which was prov'd true before Prove false again Two hundred more.
When you have told anyone you have left him a legacy the only decent thing to do is to die at once.
You can do very little with faith, but you can do nothing without it.

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