Virtue knows that it is impossible to get on without compromise, and tunes herself, as it were, a trifle sharp to allow for an inevitable fall in playing.

Quote by Samuel Butler

Topics: Samuel Butler Quotes

Oaths are but words, and words are but wind.

Oaths are but words, and words are but wind.

The want of money is the root of all evil.

The want of money is the root of all evil.

Lying has a kind of respect and reverence with it. We pay a person the...

Lying has a kind of respect and reverence with it. We pay a person the...

He that complies against his will is of his own opinion still.

He that complies against his will is of his own opinion still.

Silence and tact may or may not be the same thing.

Silence and tact may or may not be the same thing.

A physician's physiology has much the same relation to his power of healing as a...

A physician's physiology has much the same relation to his power of healing as a...

To himself everyone is immortal; he may know that he is going to die, but...

To himself everyone is immortal; he may know that he is going to die, but...

Christ and The Church: If he were to apply for a divorce on the grounds...

Christ and The Church: If he were to apply for a divorce on the grounds...

One who is proud of ancestry is like a turnip; there is nothing good of...

One who is proud of ancestry is like a turnip; there is nothing good of...

I really do not see much use in exalting the humble and meek; they do...

I really do not see much use in exalting the humble and meek; they do...

For most men, and most circumstances, pleasure --tangible material prosperity in this world --is the...

For most men, and most circumstances, pleasure --tangible material prosperity in this world --is the...

Mistakes are often the stepping stones to utter failure

Mistakes are often the stepping stones to utter failure

Letters are like wine; if they are sound they ripen with keeping. A man should...

Letters are like wine; if they are sound they ripen with keeping. A man should...

Men are seldom more commonplace than on supreme occasions.

Men are seldom more commonplace than on supreme occasions.

And so there is no God but has been in the loins of past gods.

And so there is no God but has been in the loins of past gods.

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...

The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself...

The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself...

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.

The cowl does not make the monk

The cowl does not make the monk

The cat is the mirror of his human's mind...the dog mirrors his human's physical appearance.

The cat is the mirror of his human's mind...the dog mirrors his human's physical appearance.