Quotes by Samuel Butler

Whatsoer we perpetrate We do but row we are steered by fate.

Friendship is like money easier made than kept.

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.

All animals except man know that the ultimate of life is to enjoy it.

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

It does not matter much what a man hates provided he hates something.

An apology for the Devil - it must be remembered that we have only heard one side of the case. God has written all the books.

A hen is only an eggs way of making another egg.

It has been said that though God cannot alter the past historians can - it is perhaps because they can be useful to Him in this respect that He tolerates their existence.

All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every living organism to live beyond its income.

To live is like to love: all reason is against it and all healthy instinct is for it.

The public do not know enough to be experts yet know enough to decide between them.

A lawyers dream of heaven - every man reclaimed his property at the resurrection and each tried to recover it from all his forefathers.

We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him.

I do not mind lying but I hate inaccuracy.

Life is one long process of getting tired.

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

Man unlike the animal has never learned that the sole purpose of life is to enjoy it.

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

I reckon being ill is one of the greatest pleasures of life provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.