Our ideas are for the most part like bad sixpences, and we spend our lives trying to pass them on one another.

Quote by Samuel Butler

Topics: Samuel Butler Quotes

Work with some men is as besetting a sin as idleness.

Work with some men is as besetting a sin as idleness.

Men should not try to overstrain their goodness more than any other faculty, bodily or...

Men should not try to overstrain their goodness more than any other faculty, bodily or...

Morality turns on whether the pleasure precedes or follows the pain

Morality turns on whether the pleasure precedes or follows the pain

We are not won by arguments that we can analyze but by the tone and...

We are not won by arguments that we can analyze but by the tone and...

In old times people used to try and square the circle; now they try and...

In old times people used to try and square the circle; now they try and...

It is better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at all.

It is better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at all.

Christ: I dislike him very much. Still, I can stand him. What I cannot stand...

Christ: I dislike him very much. Still, I can stand him. What I cannot stand...

The function of vice is to keep virtue within reasonable bounds.

The function of vice is to keep virtue within reasonable bounds.

The advantage of doing one's praising to oneself is that one can lay it on...

The advantage of doing one's praising to oneself is that one can lay it on...

If I die prematurely I shall be saved from being bored to death at my...

If I die prematurely I shall be saved from being bored to death at my...

God and the Devil are an effort after specialization and the division of labor.

God and the Devil are an effort after specialization and the division of labor.

All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.

All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.

Let us be grateful to the mirror for revealing to us our appearance only.

Let us be grateful to the mirror for revealing to us our appearance only.

What is faith but a kind of betting or speculation after all? It should be,...

What is faith but a kind of betting or speculation after all? It should be,...

Life is a quarry, out of which we are to mold and chisel and complete...

Life is a quarry, out of which we are to mold and chisel and complete...

Mr. Tennyson has said that more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams...

Mr. Tennyson has said that more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams...

Friendship is like money, easier made than kept.

Friendship is like money, easier made than kept.

Let every man be true and every god a liar.

Let every man be true and every god a liar.

All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism...

All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism...

No mistake is more common and more fatuous than appealing to logic in cases which...

No mistake is more common and more fatuous than appealing to logic in cases which...