Samuel Butler
Born: 01-01-1835
Samuel Butler was a Victorian-era British author and satirist, best known for his novel "Erewhon." Born in 1835, Butler's works often challenged the norms of his time, blending satire with social critique. His posthumously published novel, "The Way of All Flesh," critically examined Victorian family life. Butler's writings extended to essays and translations, marking him as an influential thinker who questioned authority and tradition.
Book summaries for books written by Samuel Butler
Quotes
It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.
The advantage of a classical education is that it enables you to despise the wealth that it prevents you from achieving.
The more you understand, the less you have to say.
Life is like music, it must be composed by ear, feeling, and instinct, not by rule.
To live is like to love - all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.
Happiness and virtue rest upon each other; the best are not only the happiest, but the happiest are usually the best.
The essence of greatness is the perception that virtue is enough.
There is much to be said for contentment and painlessness, for these bearable and submissive days, on which neither pain nor pleasure is audible, but pass by whispering and on tip-toe.
The true test of a civilization is not the census, nor the size of the cities, nor the crops - no, but the kind of man the country turns out.
To be is to do, and to do is to be.
Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be.
We cannot make events. Our business is wisely to improve them.