Samuel Butler Quotes

Quotes about:

• Don't learn to do, but learn in doing.

  Samuel Butler

  Motivational

  Samuel Butler (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of Samuel Butler (Illustrated)”, p.4163, Delphi Classics

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

  Samuel Butler

  Integrity, Grateful, Character

  Sir Francis Bacon, Samuel Butler, William Morris (2014). “The Utopia MEGAPACK ®: 20 Classic Utopian and Dystopian Works”, p.31, Wildside Press LLC

  45 Copy quote

• Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.

  Samuel Butler

  Life, Educational, Learning

  Speech at the Somerville Club, 27 Feb. 1895, in R. A. Streatfield Essays on Life, Art and Science (1904) p. 69

  96 Copy quote

• Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.

  Samuel Butler

  Funny, Friendship, Sarcastic

  Samuel Butler (2008). “The Note-books of Samuel Butler: Easyread Comfort Edition”, p.126, ReadHowYouWant.com

  33 Copy quote

• Books are like imprisoned souls till someone takes them down from a shelf and frees them.

  Samuel Butler

  Freedom, Book, Soul

  Samuel Butler (1951). “Notebooks”

  31 Copy quote

• Life is one long process of getting tired.

  Samuel Butler

  Love, Life, Tired

  Notebooks (1912) ch. 1

  18 Copy quote

• Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself.

  Samuel Butler

  Fear, Halloween, Inspiration

  50 Copy quote

• 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.

  Samuel Butler

  Dog, Humorous, Animal

  Notebooks (1912) ch. 14

  32 Copy quote

• To live is like to love - all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.

  Samuel Butler

  Love, Life, History

  Notebooks (1912) ch. 14

  30 Copy quote

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

  Samuel Butler

  Life, Motivational, Happiness

  Way of All Flesh (1903) ch. 19

  22 Copy quote

• Friendship is like money, easier made than kept.

  Samuel Butler

  Friendship, Best Friend, Money

  Samuel Butler (1951). “Samuel Butler's notebooks”

  25 Copy quote

• An apology for the devil: it must be remembered that we have heard one side of the case. God has written all the books.

  Samuel Butler

  Funny, God, Im Sorry

  Notebooks ch. 14 (1912)

  9 Copy quote

• The three most important things a man has are, briefly, his private parts, his money, and his religious opinions.

  Samuel Butler

  Religious, Men, Important

  Further Extracts from Notebooks (1934) p. 93

  23 Copy quote

• Lying has a kind of respect and reverence with it. We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him.

  Samuel Butler

  Lying, Pay, Kind

  Samuel Butler (2008). “The Note-books of Samuel Butler: Easyread Super Large 18pt Edition”, p.197, ReadHowYouWant.com

  16 Copy quote

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

  Samuel Butler

  Inspirational, Motivational, Music

  Samuel Butler (2016). “The Way of All Flesh”, p.57, Samuel Butler

  17 Copy quote

• Our minds want clothes as much as our bodies.

  Samuel Butler

  Clothes, Mind, Body

  Samuel Butler (1951). “Notebooks: Selections Edited by Geoffrey Keynes and Brian Hill”

  17 Copy quote

• A friend who cannot at a pinch remember a thing or two that never happened is as bad as one who does not know how to forget.

  Samuel Butler

  Friendship, Memories, Two

  Samuel Butler (2014). “The Notebooks of Samuel Butler”, p.377, The Floating Press

  17 Copy quote

• A man's friendships are, like his will, invalidated by marriage - but they are also no less invalidated by the marriage of his friends.

  Samuel Butler

  Funny Friend, Men

  Samuel Butler (2016). “The Way of All Flesh”, p.283, Samuel Butler

  20 Copy quote

• You can do very little with faith, but you can do nothing without it.

  Samuel Butler

  Faith, Motivation, Littles

  Samuel Butler (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of Samuel Butler (Illustrated)”, p.4356, Delphi Classics

  16 Copy quote

• Academic and aristocratic people live in such an uncommon atmosphere that common sense can rarely reach them.

  Samuel Butler

  People, Common Sense, Atmosphere

  Samuel Butler (1951). “Samuel Butler's notebooks”

  7 Copy quote

• Words are not as satisfactory as we should like them to be, but, like our neighbours, we have got to live with them and must make the best and not the worst of them.

  Samuel Butler

  Should, Worst, Neighbour

  Samuel Butler, Hans-Peter Breuer (1984). “The Note-books of Samuel Butler: 1874-1883”, Univ Pr of Amer

  11 Copy quote

• It is not he who gains the exact point in dispute who scores most in controversy - but he who has shown the better temper.

  Samuel Butler

  Anger, Gains, Debate

  Samuel Butler (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of Samuel Butler (Illustrated)”, p.4366, Delphi Classics

  5 Copy quote

• Be virtuous and you will be vicious.

  Samuel Butler

  Vicious, Virtuous

  Samuel Butler (1951). “Samuel Butler's notebooks”

  4 Copy quote

• Life is like music; it must be composed by ear, feeling, and instinct, not by rule.

  Samuel Butler

  Life, Success, Music

  Samuel Butler (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of Samuel Butler (Illustrated)”, p.4082, Delphi Classics

  58 Copy quote

• The man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore.

  Samuel Butler

  Men, Bores You, Boredom

  Samuel Butler (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of Samuel Butler (Illustrated)”, p.935, Delphi Classics

  5 Copy quote

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