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  ...rules of life, the one general and the other particular. The first is that every one can, in the end, get what he wants if he only tries. This is the general rule. The particular rule is that every individual is, more or less, an exception to the general rule.
xv
Nature is essentially mean, mediocre. You can have schemes for raising the level of this mean, but not for making every one two inches taller than his neighbour, and this is what people really care about.
xvi All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.  
The World
i
The world is a gambling-table so arranged that all who enter the casino must play and all must lose more or less heavily in the long run, though they win occasionally by the way.
ii
We play out our days as we play out cards, taking them as they come, not knowing what they will be, hoping for a lucky card and sometimes getting one, often getting just the wrong one.
iii
The world may not be particularly wise--still, we know of nothing wiser.
iv
The...   Butler, Samuel

Excerpt from The Note-Books of Samuel Butler · This quote is about excess · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.

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