Samuel Butler

The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them.

When the righteous man truth away from his righteousness that he hath committed and doeth that which is neither quite lawful nor quite right, he will generally be found to have gained in amiability what he has lost in holiness.

Birth and death are so closely related that one could not destroy either without destroying the other at the same time. It is extinction that makes creation possible.

Vaccination is the medical sacrament corresponding to baptism.

The only living works are those which have drained much of the author’s own life into them.

In matrimony, to hesitate is sometimes to be saved.

The Country is both the Philosopher’s Garden and his Library, in which he Reads and Contemplates the Power, Wisdom and Goodness of God.

Say a word, say a thousand to me on the telephone and I shall choose the wrong one to cling to as though you had said it after long deliberation when only I provoked it from you, I will cling to it from among a thousand, to be provoked and hurl it back with something I mean no more than you meant that, something for you to cling to and retreat clinging to.

Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.

Men who for truth and honor’s sake stand fast and suffer long. Brave men who work while others sleep. Who dare while others fly.They build a nation’s pillars deep. And lift them to the sky.

The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.

It’s powerful to have strong men but what does that strength mean?

I do not mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy.

The reward of one’s duty is the power to fulfill another.

I hate the irreverent rabble and keep them far from me.

We perceive and are affected by changes too subtle to be described.

No great man ever complains of want of opportunity.

Let your character be kept up the very end, just as it began, and so be consistent.

Sympathy is a supporting atmosphere, and in it we unfold easily and well.

I was not the lion, but it fell to me to give the lion’s roar.

Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves, but deal in our privacy with the last honesty and truth.