A man should have any number of little aims about which he should be conscious and for which he should have names, but he should have neither name for, nor consciousness concerning the main aim of his life.
Samuel ButlerMen 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.
Samuel ButlerCreativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud.
Samuel ButlerNature. As the word is now commonly used it excludes nature's most interesting productions-the works of man. Nature is usually taken to mean mountains, rivers, clouds and undomesticated animals and plants. I am not indifferent to this half of nature, but it interests me much less than the other half.
Samuel Butler