Friday, December 4, 2009

Meandering in the stacks . . .

Today is the birthday of Samuel Butler (December 4, 1835 – June 18, 1902), author. His most famous works are the Utopian satire Erewhon and the posthumous novel The Way of All Flesh.

"Life is not an exact science, it is an art." - Samuel Butler

"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." - Samuel Butler

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but a little want of knowledge is also a dangerous thing." - Samuel Butler

"All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it." - Samuel Butler

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

"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

"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

"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." - Samuel Butler

"All truth is not to be told at all times." - Samuel Butler

"It is tact that is golden, not silence." - Samuel Butler

Butler image source (1)

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