Samuel Butler a Little Knowledge
Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.
Samuel ButlerThey say the test of literary power is whether a man can write an inscription. I say, 'Can he name a kitten?'
Samuel ButlerFriendship is like money, easier made than kept.
Samuel ButlerMost of those who call themselves artists are in reality picture dealers, only they make the pictures themselves.
Samuel ButlerA physician's physiology has much the same relation to his power of healing as a cleric's divinity has to his power of influencing conduct.
Samuel ButlerChrist and The Church: If he were to apply for a divorce on the grounds of cruelty, adultery and desertion, he would probably get one.
Samuel ButlerI do not mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy.
Samuel ButlerLoyalty is still the same, whether it win or lose the game; true as a dial to the sun, although it be not shined upon.
Samuel ButlerWork with some men is as besetting a sin as idleness with others.
Samuel ButlerBecause they did not see merit where they should have seen it, people, to express their regret, will go and leave a lot of money to the very people who will be the first to throw stones at the next person who has anything to say and finds a difficulty in getting a hearing.
Samuel ButlerEvery man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or anything else, is always a portrait of himself, and the more he tries to conceal himself the more clearly will his character appear in spite of him.
Samuel ButlerMorality is the custom of one's country and the current feeling of one's peers.
Samuel ButlerDon't learn to do, but learn in doing. Let your falls not be on a prepared ground, but let them be bona fide falls in the rough and tumble of the world.
Samuel ButlerIt is seldom very hard to do one's duty when one knows what it is, but it is often exceedingly difficult to find this out.
Samuel ButlerLying has a kind of respect and reverence with it. We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him.
Samuel ButlerA skilful leech is better far, than half a hundred men of war.
Samuel ButlerFrom a worldly point of view, there is no mistake so great as that of being always right.
Samuel ButlerAny fool can tell the truth, but it requires a man of some sense to know how to lie well.
Samuel ButlerHappiness and misery depend not on how high up or low down you are--they depend not upond these, but on the direction in which you are tending.
Samuel ButlerIt has beeen said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The want of money is so quite as truly.
Samuel Butler