Samuel Butler

Any fool can tell the truth, but it requires a man of some sense to know how to lie well.

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

A skilful leech is better far, than half a hundred men of war.

Parents are the last people on earth who ought to have children.

Most people have never learned that one of the main aims in life is to enjoy it.

Though wisdom cannot be gotten for gold, still less can be gotten without it.

A myth is a religion in which no one any longer believes.

Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?

The essence of Buddhism is, if you can, to help others. If not, then at least refrain from hurting others.

Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.

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

Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New.

If we could get all religions together on a common purpose-the elimination of jealousies and the things that make men covet another’s belongings, we would be a long way toward the goal of outmoding war, depression and poverty.

Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.

To a brave man, good and bad luck are like his left and right hand. He uses both.

Cultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others is the ultimate source of success in life.

An intelligent hell would be better than a stupid paradise.

A miracle is an event which creates faith. That is the purpose and nature of miracles. Frauds deceive. An event which creates faith does not deceive: therefore it is not a fraud, but a miracle.

If it turns out that there is a God, I don’t think that he’s evil. But the worst that you can say about him is that basically he’s an underachiever.

God is a loving god.

It is easy to believe we are each waves and forget we are also the ocean.