R. A. Butler Quotes

Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.

Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and of true progress.

Every man is enthusiastic at times. One man has enthusiasm for thirty minutes another man has it for thirty days. But it is the man who has it for thirty years who makes a success in life.

Optimism and humor are the grease and glue of life. Without both of them we would never have survived our captivity.

Faith is a kind of betting or speculation.

You can do very little with faith but you can do nothing without it.

Whatso'er we perpetrate We do but row we are steered by fate.

If you let fear of consequence prevent you from following your deepest instinct then your life will be safe expedient and thin.

To swallow gudgeons ere they're catch'd And count their chickens ere they're hatch'd.

Friendship is like money easier made than kept.

There is nothing better than the encouragement of a good friend.

All animals except man know that the ultimate of life is to enjoy it.

Too long a sacrifice Can make a stone of the heart.

All animals except man know that the principle business of life is to enjoy it.

Joy is the will which labours which overcomes obstacles which knows triumph.

It does not matter much what a man hates provided he hates something.

An apology for the Devil - it must be remembered that we have only heard one side of the case. God has written all the books.

It has been said that though God cannot alter the past historians can - it is perhaps because they can be useful to Him in this respect that He tolerates their existence.

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

All I can do is act according to my deepest instinct and be whatever I must be-crazy or ribald or sad or compassionate or loving or indifferent. That is all anybody can do.

If you let your fear of consequence prevent you from following your deepest instinct your life will be safe expedient and thin.

To live is like to love: all reason is against it and all healthy instinct is for it.

The intellect of man is forced to choose Perfection of the life or of the work.

The public do not know enough to be experts yet know enough to decide between them.

A lawyer's dream of heaven - every man reclaimed his property at the resurrection and each tried to recover it from all his forefathers.

We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him.

I do not mind lying but I hate inaccuracy.

To live is like to love - all reason is against it and all healthy instinct for it.

Man unlike the animal has never learned that the sole purpose of life is to enjoy it.

Joy is the will which labors which overcomes obstacles which knows triumph.

Wine comes in at the mouth and love comes in at the eye that's all we shall know for truth before we grow old and die.

Any fool can tell the truth but it requires a man of some sense to know how to lie well.

I reckon being ill is one of the greatest pleasures of life provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.

"Mommy we're not going to be poor again are we?" "Not as long as you have that rare blood type."

Only that which does not teach which does not cry out which does not condescend which does not explain is irresistible.

What runs through a person like water through a sieve.

All empty souls tend to extreme opinion.

It is unseasonable and unwholesome in all months that have not an R in their names to eat an oyster.

The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you but he will make a fool of himself too.

All philosophies if you ride them home are nonsense but some are greater nonsense than others.

Of our conflicts with others we make rhetoric of our conflicts with ourselves we make poetry.

A statesman is an easy man He tells his lies by rote A journalist makes up his lies And takes you by the throat So stay at home and drink your beer And let the neighbours vote.

Optimism is essential to achievement and is also the foundation of courage and of true progress.

The advantage of doing one's praising to oneself is that one can lay it on so thick and exactly in the right places.

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

No matter how ill we may be nor how low we may have fallen we should not change identity with any other person.

Be secret and exult Because of all things known That is most difficult.

Our self-conceit sustains and always must sustain us.

The foundations which we would dig about and find are within us like the Kingdom of Heaven rather than without.

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