413 Quotes by Samuel Butler

They say the test of [literary power] is whether a man can write an inscription. I say, "Can he name a kitten?" And by this test I am condemned, for I cannot.

If God wants us to do a thing, he should make his wishes sufficiently clear. Sensible people will wait till he has done this before paying much attention to him.

We all love best not those who offend us least, but those who make it most easy for us to forgive them.

One of the first businesses of a sensible man is to know when he is beaten, and to leave off fighting at once.

Mr. Tennyson has said that more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of, but he wisely refrains from saying whether they are good or bad things.

Men of Science. If they are worthy of the name they are indeed about God's path and about his bed and spying out all his ways.

It is tact that is golden, not silence.

What makes all doctrines plain and clear?/ About two hundred pounds a year.

It is not he who gains the exact point in dispute who scores most in controversy - but he who has shown the better temper.