Quotes | Most Inspiring and Motivational Quotes

"Our ideas are for the most part like bad sixpences, and we spend our lives trying to pass them on one another."

"Our ideas are for the most part like bad sixpences, and we spend our lives trying to pass them on one another."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Creativity, Ideas, Trying

17

"Opinions have vested interests just as men have."

"Opinions have vested interests just as men have."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Man, Men, Opinions

33

"It is our less conscious thoughts and our less conscious actions which mainly mould our lives and the lives of those who spring from us."

"It is our less conscious thoughts and our less conscious actions which mainly mould our lives and the lives of those who spring from us."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Thought, Thoughts, Actions, Spring

13

"Oaths are but words, and words are but wind."

"Oaths are but words, and words are but wind."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Society, Wind, Words

63

"It is seldom very hard to do one's duty when one knows what it is, but it is often exceedingly difficult to find this out."

"It is seldom very hard to do one's duty when one knows what it is, but it is often exceedingly difficult to find this out."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Duty,

79

"No mistake is more common and more fatuous than appealing to logic in cases which are beyond her jurisdiction."

"No mistake is more common and more fatuous than appealing to logic in cases which are beyond her jurisdiction."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Mistake, Logic

20

"Neither irony or sarcasm is argument."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Argument, Irony, Sarcasm

50

"My main wish is to get my books into other people's rooms, and to keep other people's books out of mine."

"My main wish is to get my books into other people's rooms, and to keep other people's books out of mine."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

People, Books

19

"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."

"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."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Dream, Dreams, Prayer, Saying, World

21

"Most people have never learned that one of the main aims in life is to enjoy it."

"Most people have never learned that one of the main aims in life is to enjoy it."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Life, People

18

"God and the Devil are an effort after specialization and the division of labor."

"God and the Devil are an effort after specialization and the division of labor."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

God, Devil, Effort, Labor

16

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

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

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Fight, Fighting, First, Man

66

"Let us eat and drink neither forgetting death unduly nor remembering it. The Lord hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, etc., and the less we think about it the better."

"Let us eat and drink neither forgetting death unduly nor remembering it. The Lord hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, etc., and the less we think about it the better."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Death, Mercy, Will

22

"Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises."

"Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Life, Art

60

"Life is one long process of getting tired."

"Life is one long process of getting tired."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Life,

27

"Life is not an exact science, it is an art."

"Life is not an exact science, it is an art."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Life, Art, Science

59

"Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on."

"Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Life, Learning, Public

16

"Life is like music; it must be composed by ear, feeling, and instinct, not by rule."

"Life is like music; it must be composed by ear, feeling, and instinct, not by rule."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Life, Music, Feeling, Instinct

45

"People are always good company when they are doing what they really enjoy."

"People are always good company when they are doing what they really enjoy."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

People, Company

15

"Letters are like wine; if they are sound they ripen with keeping. A man should lay down letters as he does a cellar of wine."

"Letters are like wine; if they are sound they ripen with keeping. A man should lay down letters as he does a cellar of wine."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Writing, Letters, Man, Sound, Wine

46

"Men should not try to overstrain their goodness more than any other faculty, bodily or mental."

"Men should not try to overstrain their goodness more than any other faculty, bodily or mental."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Man, Men, Goodness

16

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

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

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Appearance,

16

"Let every man be true and every god a liar."

"Let every man be true and every god a liar."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

God, Man

20

"Justice while she winks at crimes, Stumbles on innocence sometimes."

"Justice while she winks at crimes, Stumbles on innocence sometimes."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Justice, Innocence

21

"She had not thought it would be so easy to slip into the old roles. Cambridge had changed her fundamentally and she thought she was immune. No one in her family, however, noticed the transformation in her, and she was not able to resist the power of their habitual expectations."

"She had not thought it would be so easy to slip into the old roles. Cambridge had changed her fundamentally and she thought she was immune. No one in her family, however, noticed the transformation in her, and she was not able to resist the power of their habitual expectations."

Ian McEwan, British Author

Belonging, Family, Change, Identity, Expectation

32

"It is the function of vice to keep virtue within reasonable bounds."

"It is the function of vice to keep virtue within reasonable bounds."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Virtue, Vice

18

"It is tact that is golden, not silence."

"It is tact that is golden, not silence."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Silence, Tact

95

"Life is a quarry, out of which we are to mold and chisel and complete a character."

"Life is a quarry, out of which we are to mold and chisel and complete a character."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Life, Character

18

"Death is only a larger kind of going abroad."

"Death is only a larger kind of going abroad."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Death,

13

"Morality is the custom of one's country and the current feeling of one's peers."

"Morality is the custom of one's country and the current feeling of one's peers."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Morality, Country, Custom, Feeling

18

"Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself."

"Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Fear, Hearing

15

"Faith - you can do very little with it, but you can do nothing without it."

"Faith - you can do very little with it, but you can do nothing without it."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Faith, Nothing

54

"Evil is like water, it abounds, is cheap, soon fouls, but runs itself clear of taint."

"Evil is like water, it abounds, is cheap, soon fouls, but runs itself clear of taint."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Evil, Water

42

"Every man's work, whether it be literature, or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself."

"Every man's work, whether it be literature, or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Architecture, Music, Work, Literature

19

"Friendship is like money, easier made than kept."

"Friendship is like money, easier made than kept."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Friendship, Money

43

"Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day."

"Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Lifestyle, Day, Tomorrow, Trouble, Will

21

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

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

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Mistake, Being, Right

21

"Christ: I dislike him very much. Still, I can stand him. What I cannot stand is the wretched band of people whose profession is to hoodwink us about him."

"Christ: I dislike him very much. Still, I can stand him. What I cannot stand is the wretched band of people whose profession is to hoodwink us about him."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

People, Profession

14

"Christ was only crucified once and for a few hours. Think of the hundreds of thousands whom Christ has been crucifying in a quiet way ever since."

"Christ was only crucified once and for a few hours. Think of the hundreds of thousands whom Christ has been crucifying in a quiet way ever since."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Christian, Christ, Quiet

17

"Christ and The Church: If he were to apply for a divorce on the grounds of cruelty, adultery and desertion, he would probably get one."

"Christ and The Church: If he were to apply for a divorce on the grounds of cruelty, adultery and desertion, he would probably get one."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Humor, Adultery, Christ, Cruelty, Divorce

17

"Brigands demand your money or your life; women require both."

"Brigands demand your money or your life; women require both."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Life, Money, Women

55

"Books are like imprisoned souls till someone takes them down from a shelf and frees them."

"Books are like imprisoned souls till someone takes them down from a shelf and frees them."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Books,

18

"Belief like any other moving body follows the path of least resistance."

"Belief like any other moving body follows the path of least resistance."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Trust, Belief, Body

45

"Don't learn to do, but learn in doing. Let your falls not be on a prepared ground, but let them be bona fide falls in the rough and tumble of the world."

"Don't learn to do, but learn in doing. Let your falls not be on a prepared ground, but let them be bona fide falls in the rough and tumble of the world."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

World,

19

"I do not mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy."

"I do not mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Hate, Lying, Mind

27

"Men are seldom more commonplace than on supreme occasions."

"Men are seldom more commonplace than on supreme occasions."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Man, Men

57

"Marriage is distinctly and repeatedly excluded from heaven. Is this because it is thought likely to mar the general felicity?"

"Marriage is distinctly and repeatedly excluded from heaven. Is this because it is thought likely to mar the general felicity?"

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Marriage, Thought, Heaven

21

"Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature."

"Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Man, State

51

"Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them."

"Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

Man, Victims

22

"Man is God's highest present development. He is the latest thing in God."

"Man is God's highest present development. He is the latest thing in God."

Samuel Butler, British Poet

God, Development, Man, Present

All Quotes Collection

"Our ideas are for the most part like bad sixpences, and we spend our lives trying to pass them on one another."

17

"Opinions have vested interests just as men have."

33

"It is our less conscious thoughts and our less conscious actions which mainly mould our lives and the lives of those who spring from us."

13

"Oaths are but words, and words are but wind."

63

"It is seldom very hard to do one's duty when one knows what it is, but it is often exceedingly difficult to find this out."

79

"No mistake is more common and more fatuous than appealing to logic in cases which are beyond her jurisdiction."

20

"Neither irony or sarcasm is argument."

50

"My main wish is to get my books into other people's rooms, and to keep other people's books out of mine."

19

"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."

21

"Most people have never learned that one of the main aims in life is to enjoy it."

18

"God and the Devil are an effort after specialization and the division of labor."

16

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

66

"Let us eat and drink neither forgetting death unduly nor remembering it. The Lord hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, etc., and the less we think about it the better."

22

"Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises."

60

"Life is one long process of getting tired."

27

"Life is not an exact science, it is an art."

59

"Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on."

16

"Life is like music; it must be composed by ear, feeling, and instinct, not by rule."

45

"People are always good company when they are doing what they really enjoy."

15

"Letters are like wine; if they are sound they ripen with keeping. A man should lay down letters as he does a cellar of wine."

46

"Men should not try to overstrain their goodness more than any other faculty, bodily or mental."

16

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

16

"Let every man be true and every god a liar."

20

"Justice while she winks at crimes, Stumbles on innocence sometimes."

21

"She had not thought it would be so easy to slip into the old roles. Cambridge had changed her fundamentally and she thought she was immune. No one in her family, however, noticed the transformation in her, and she was not able to resist the power of their habitual expectations."

32

"It is the function of vice to keep virtue within reasonable bounds."

18

"It is tact that is golden, not silence."

95

"Life is a quarry, out of which we are to mold and chisel and complete a character."

18

"Death is only a larger kind of going abroad."

13

"Morality is the custom of one's country and the current feeling of one's peers."

18

"Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself."

15

"Faith - you can do very little with it, but you can do nothing without it."

54

"Evil is like water, it abounds, is cheap, soon fouls, but runs itself clear of taint."

42

"Every man's work, whether it be literature, or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself."

19

"Friendship is like money, easier made than kept."

43

"Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day."

21

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

21

"Christ: I dislike him very much. Still, I can stand him. What I cannot stand is the wretched band of people whose profession is to hoodwink us about him."

14

"Christ was only crucified once and for a few hours. Think of the hundreds of thousands whom Christ has been crucifying in a quiet way ever since."

17

"Christ and The Church: If he were to apply for a divorce on the grounds of cruelty, adultery and desertion, he would probably get one."