Samuel Butler

I believe that he was really sorry that people would not believe he was sorry that he was not more sorry.

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.

Birth and death are so closely related that one could not destroy either without destroying the other at the same time. It is extinction that makes creation possible.

A genius can never expect to have a good time anywhere, if he is a genuine article, but America is about the last place in which life will be endurable at all for an inspired writer of any kind.

From a worldly point of view, there is no mistake so great as that of being always right.

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

The fibers of all things have their tension and are strained like the strings of an instrument.

He who is taught to live upon little owes more to his father’s wisdom than he who has a great deal left him does to his father’s care.

It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time.

These times of ours are serious and full of calamity, but all times are essentially alike. As soon as there is life there is danger.

I constantly ask myself if what I’m doing is for me or somebody else. It’s tripping me out!

Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.

There is nothing, Sir, too little for so little a creature as man. It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible.

Take care to get what you like or you will be forced to like what you get.

It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.

When it comes to the point, really bad men are just as rare as really good ones.

I don’t think the human mind can comprehend the past and the future. They are both just illusions that can manipulate you into thinking theres some kind of change.

Perfect freedom is reserved for the man who lives by his work and in that work he does what he wants to do.

Look to make your course regular, that men may know beforehand what they may expect.

The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit.

Without a rich heart, wealth is an ugly beggar.