"If there is any moral in Christianity, if there is anything to be learned from it, if the whole story is not profitless from first to last, it comes to this: that a man should back his own opinion against the world s."

Rating:

  rate this quote
Topic: none  help us select a topic for this quote

More quotes from: Samuel Butler

• "A blind man knows he cannot see, and is glad to be led, though it ..."
• "A friend who cannot at a pinch remember a thing or two that never happened ..."
• "A genius can never expect to have a good time anywhere, if he is a ..."
• "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg. "
• "A man should be just cultured enough to be able to look with suspicion upon ..."
• "A man's friendships are, like his will, invalidated by marriage - but they are also ..."
• "A skilful leech is better far, than half a hundred men of war. "
• "A virtue to be serviceable must, like gold, be alloyed with some commoner, but more ..."
• "All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it. "
• "All of the animals except for man know that the principle business of life is ..."
• "All philosophies, if you ride them home, are nonsense, but some are greater nonsense than ..."
• "All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism ..."
• "All truth is not to be told at all times. "
• "An apology for the devil: it must be remembered that we have heard one side ..."
• "Any fool can tell the truth, but it requires a man of some sense to ..."
• "Because they did not see merit where they should have seen it, people, to express ..."
• "Conscience is thoroughly well-bred and soon leaves off talking to those who do not wish ..."
• "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the ..."
• "Don't learn to do, but learn in doing. Let your falls not be on a ..."
• "Dullness is so much stronger than genius because there is so much more of it, ..."
• "Eating is touch carried to the bitter end. "
• "Every man's work, whether it be literature, or music or pictures or architecture or anything ..."
• "Every one should keep a mental wastepaper basket and the older he grows the more ..."
• "Evil is like water, it abounds, is cheap, soon fouls, but runs itself clear of ..."
• "Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself. "
• "For most men, and most circumstances, pleasure -tangible material prosperity in this world -is the ..."
• "For truth is precious and divine, too rich a pearl for carnal swine. "
• "Friendship is like money, easier made than kept. "
• "Genius is a nuisance, and it is the duty of schools and colleges to abate ..."
• "God cannot alter the past, though historians can. "
• "God was satisfied with his own work, and that is fatal. "
• "Half the vices which the world condemns most loudly have seeds of good in them ..."
• "He that complies against his will is of his own opinion still. "
• "He was born stupid, and greatly increased his birthright. "
• "Human life is as evanescent as the morning dew or a flash of lightning. "
• "I believe that more unhappiness comes from this source than from any other - I ..."

• "I do not mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy. "
• "If God wants us to do a thing, he should make his wishes sufficiently clear. ..."
• "If life must not be taken too seriously, then so neither must death. "
• "If we attend continually and promptly to the little that we can do, we shall ..."
• "If you follow reason far enough it always leads to conclusions that are contrary to ..."
• "In law, nothing is certain but the expense. "
• "Is life worth living? This is a question for an embryo not for a man. "
• "It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil. ..."
• "It is immoral to get drunk because the headache comes after the drinking, but if ..."
• "It is our less conscious thoughts and our less conscious actions which mainly mould our ..."
• "Let us be grateful to the mirror for revealing to us our appearance only. "
• "Life is a quarry, out of which we are to mold and chisel and complete ..."
• "Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one ..."
• "Life is not an exact science, it is an art. "
• "Life is one long process of getting tired. "
• "Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises. "
• "Logic is like the sword - those who appeal to it, shall perish by it. "
• "Look before you leap for as you sow, ye are like to reap. "
• "Lying has a kind of respect and reverence with it. We pay a person the ..."
• "Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he ..."
• "Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature. "
• "Marriage is distinctly and repeatedly excluded from heaven. Is this because it is thought likely ..."
• "Most people have never learned that one of the main aims in life is to ..."
• "Natural amiableness is too often seen in company with sloth, with uselessness, with the vanity ..."
• "Neither irony or sarcasm is argument. "
• "No mistake is more common and more fatuous than appealing to logic in cases which ..."
• "Nobody shoots at Santa Claus. "
• "Oaths are but words, and words are but wind. "
• "Opinions have vested interests just as men have. "
• "Parents are the last people on earth who ought to have children. "
• "People are always good company when they are doing what they really enjoy. "
• "People in general are equally horrified at hearing the Christian religion doubted, and at seeing ..."
• "Rare virtues are like rare plants or animals, things that have not been able to ..."
• "Self-preservation is the first law of nature. "
• "Some men love truth so much that they seem to be in continual fear lest ..."

• "The advantage of doing one's praising for oneself is that one can lay it on ..."
• "The Ancient Mariner would not have taken so well if it had been called The ..."
• "The best liar is he who makes the smallest amount of lying go the longest ..."
• "The Bible may be the truth, but it is not the whole truth and nothing ..."
• "The clergyman is expected to be a kind of human Sunday. "
• "The function of vice is to keep virtue within reasonable bounds. "
• "The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself ..."
• "The healthy stomach is nothing if it is not conservative. Few radicals have good digestions. "
• "The hen is an egg's way of producing another egg. "
• "The history of art is the history of revivals. "
• "The man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore. "
• "The oldest books are only just out to those who have not read them. "
• "The one serious conviction that a man should have is that nothing is to be ..."
• "The public buys its opinions as it buys its meat, or takes in its milk, ..."
• "The three most important things a man has are, briefly, his private parts, his money, ..."
• "The voice of the Lord is the voice of common sense, which is shared by ..."
• "There are more fools than knaves in the world, else the knaves would not have ..."
• "There are two great rules in life, the one general and the other particular. The ..."
• "There is but one step from the Academy to the Fad. "
• "There is no such source of error as the pursuit of truth. "
• "There is nothing so unthinkable as thought, unless it be the entire absence of thought. "
• "Think of and look at your work as though it were done by your enemy. ..."
• "Those who have never had a father can at any rate never know the sweets ..."
• "Though analogy is often misleading, it is the least misleading thing we have. "
• "To give pain is the tyranny; to make happy, the true empire of beauty. "
• "To himself everyone is immortal; he may know that he is going to die, but ..."
• "To live is like to love - all reason is against it, and all healthy ..."
• "Vaccination is the medical sacrament corresponding to baptism. "
• "Virtue knows that it is impossible to get on without compromise, and tunes herself, as ..."
• "We all like to forgive, and love best not those who offend us least, nor ..."
• "When a man is in doubt about this or that in his writing, it will ..."
• "When you've told someone that you've left them a legacy the only decent thing to ..."
• "Words are not as satisfactory as we should like them to be, but, like our ..."
• "Work with some men is as besetting a sin as idleness. "