Samuel Butler

When you have told anyone you have left him a legacy the only decent thing to do is to die at once.

Half the vices which the world condemns most loudly have seeds of good in them and require moderate use rather than total abstinence.

The history of art is the history of revivals.

Every man’s work, whether it be literature, or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.

Opinions have vested interests just as men have.

An idea must not be condemned for being a little shy and incoherent; all new ideas are shy when introduced first among our old ones. We should have patience and see whether the incoherency is likely to wear off or to wear on, in which latter case the sooner we get rid of them the better.

Let go over a cliff, die completely, and then come back to life – after that you cannot be deceived.

When one person suffers from a delusion It is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion It is called Religion.

I lost my faith in God when I lost my daughter to Cancer, the beast. I begged, I cried, I offered my life for hers, and day by day, I watched that beautiful little Angel slip off. So, excuse me for not taking my seat next to you on Sunday in Church, I feel too cheated to worship.

Small amounts of philosophy lead to atheism, but larger amounts bring us back to God.

Zazen is an activity that is an extension of the universe. Zazen is not the life of an individual, it’s the universe that’s breathing.

God almighty first planted a garden: and, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasure.

I’m essentially agnostic. I don’t have a problem with God. I have a problem with religion. I’ve chosen to live my life without the certainties of religious faith. I think they’re dangerous. Music is something that gives my life value and spiritual solace.

I believe God is managing affairs and that He doesn’t need any advice from me. With God in charge, I believe everything will work out for the best in the end. So what is there to worry about.

Right now, it’s like this.

I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.

We all die unhealed

Learning Zen is a phenomenon of gold & dung. Before you learn it, it’s like gold; after you learn it, it’s like dung.

Still water has no mind to receive the image of the migrating geese.

Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.

I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition (Christianity) one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology.