Samuel Butler

Union may be strength, but it is mere blind brute strength unless wisely directed.

For every why he had a wherefore.

God cannot alter the past, but historians can.

The seven deadly sins: Want of money, bad health, bad temper, chastity, family ties, knowing that you know things, and believing in the Christian religion.

The public buys its opinions as it buys its meat, or takes in its milk, on the principle that it is cheaper to do this than to keep a cow. So it is, but the milk is more likely to be watered.

Vaccination is the medical sacrament corresponding to baptism.

The most beautiful woman is the one who is never divulging, she knows what she is and everything else is worth her.

No story is the same to us after a lapse of time; or rather we who read it are no longer the same interpreters.

She is but half a wife that is not, nor is capable of being, a friend.

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

There is, indeed, nothing that so much seduces reason from vigilance, as the thought of passing life with an amiable woman.

Nothing is too high for the daring of mortals: we storm heaven itself in our folly.

The savage in man is never quite eradicated.

These are not dark days: these are great days – the greatest days our country has ever lived.

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

Our high respect for a well read person is praise enough for literature.

You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.

If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.

Perhaps his might be one of the natures where a wise estimate of consequences is fused in the fires of that passionate belief which determines the consequences it believes in.

All our progress is an unfolding, like a vegetable bud. You have first an instinct, then an opinion, then a knowledge as the plant has root, bud, and fruit. Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason.

Today, you can decide to walk in freedom. You can choose to walk differently. You can walk as a free person, enjoying every step.