The Note Books Of Samuel Butler

224 Higgledy-Piggledy

Gold-Mines

Gold is not found in quartz alone ; its richest lodes are in
the eyes and ears of the public, but these are harder to work
and to prospect than any quartz vein.

Things and Purses

Everything is like a purse—there may be money in it,
and we can generally say by the feel of it whether there is
or is not. Sometimes, however, we must turn it inside out
before we can be quite sure whether there is anything in it
or no. When I have turned a proposition inside out, put
it to stand on its head, and shaken it, I have often been
surprised to find how much came out of it.

Solomon in all his Glory

But, in the first place, the lilies do toil and spin after their
own fashion, and, in the next, it was not desirable that
Solomon should be dressed like a lily of the valley.

David's Teachers

David said he had more understanding than his teachers,
If his teachers were anything like mine this need not imply
much understanding on David's part. And if his teachers
did not know more than the Psalms—it is absurd. It is
merely swagger, like the German Emperor. [1897,]

S. Michael

He contended with the devil about the body of Moses.
Now, I do not believe that any reasonable person would
contend about the body of Moses with the devil or with any
one else.

One Form of Failure

From a worldly point of view there is no mistake so great
as that of being always right.