God cannot alter the past, but historians can.
Samuel Butler Quotations
We found 52 matching quotations.
Logic is like the sword: those who appeal to it shall perish by it.
The difference between God and the historians consists above all in the fact that God cannot alter the past.
Then he saw also that it matters little what profession, whether of religion or irreligion, a man may make, provided only he follows it out with charitable inconsistency, and without insisting on it to the bitter end. It is in the uncompromisingness with which dogma is held and not in the dogma or want of dogma that the danger lies.
It does not matter much what a man hates provided he hates something.
I consider being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill.
All progress is based on a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.
He has spent his life best who has enjoyed it most; God will take care that we do not enjoy it any more than is good for us.
Logic is like the sword--those who appeal to it shall perish by it.
All philosophies, if you ride them, are nonsense, but some are greater nonsense than others.
Loyalty is still the same,Whether it win or lose the gameTrue as a dial to the sun,Although it be not shined upon.
The best liar is he who makes the smallest amount of lying go the longest way.
To do great work a man must be very idle as well as very industrious.
Life is like playing the violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.
Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.
An apology for the devil: it must be remembered that we have heard one side of the case. God has written all the books.
People care more about being thought to have taste than about being good, clever, or amiable.
It has beeen said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The want of money is so quite as truly.
Any fool can tell the truth, but it requires a man of some sense to know how to lie well.
All animals except man know that the ultimate of life is to enjoy it.
It is in the uncompromisingness with which dogma is held and not in the dogma, or want of dogma, that the danger lies.
God is Love -- I dare say. But what a mischievous devil Love is
To live is like love, all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.
You can do very little with faith, but you can do nothing without it.
An apology for the devil it must be remembered that we have heard only one side of the case God has written all the books.
If we attend continually and promptly to the little that we can do, we shall ere long be surprised to find how little remains that we cannot do.
The voice of the Lord is the voice of common sense, which is shared by all that is
If the headache would only precede the intoxication, alcoholism would be a virtue.
A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg.
Men should not try to overstrain their goodness more than any other faculty.
Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature.
Genius might be described as a supreme capacity for getting its possessors into trouble of all kinds.
All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.
The course of true anything does not run smooth.
The advantage of doing one's praising for oneself is that one can lay it on so thick and in exactly the right places.
For truth is precious and divine Too rich a pearl for carnal swine.
It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The want of money is so quite as truly.
I do not mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy.
Life is not an exact science, it is an art.
Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.
When you have told anyone you have left him a legacy the only decent thing to do is to die at once.
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at all.
Friendship is like money, easier made than kept.
The man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore.
He that is down can fall no lower.
Arguments are like fire-arms which a man may keep at home but should not carry about with him.
Truth is generally kindness, but where the two diverge and collide, kindness should override truth.
Man, unlike the animals, has never learned that the sole purpose of life is to enjoy it.
I do not mind lying but I hate inaccuracy.
Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises.
An apology for the devil: it must be remembered that we have heard only one side of the case; God has written all the books.
The three most important parts a man has are, briefly, his private parts, his money and his religious beliefs.