The difference between God and the historians consists above all in the fact that God cannot alter the past.

quote by Samuel Butler
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To himself everyone is immortal; he may know that he is going to die, but he can never know that he is dead.

quote by Samuel Butler
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All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.

quote by Samuel Butler
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All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.

Samuel Butler in Notebooks (1912)
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Academic and aristocratic people live in such an uncommon atmosphere that common sense can rarely reach them.

quote by Samuel Butler
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They say the test of literary power is whether a man can write an inscription. I say, 'Can he name a kitten?'

quote by Samuel Butler
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The three most important parts a man has are, briefly, his private parts, his money and his religious beliefs.

quote by Samuel Butler
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No mistake is more common and more fatuous than appealing to logic in cases which are beyond her jurisdiction.

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

quote by Samuel Butler
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A man should be just cultured enough to be able to look with suspicion upon culture at first, not second hand.

quote by Samuel Butler
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