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Quotes from Part III — Samuel Butler

1612–1680 England

← All quotes by Samuel Butler

13 quotes

As men of inward light are wont
To turn their optics in upon 't.

Part III (1678)

For those that fly may fight again,
Which he can never do that's slain.

Part III (1678)

'Cause grace and virtue are within
Prohibited degrees of kin;
And therefore no true saint allows
They shall be suffer'd to espouse.

Part III (1678)

But still his tongue ran on, the less
Of weight it bore, with greater ease.

Part III (1678)

True as the dial to the sun,
Although it be not shin'd upon.

Part III (1678)

He that complies against his will.
Is of his own opinion still.

Part III (1678)

Still amorous and fond and billing,
Like Philip and Mary on a shilling.

Part III (1678)

With crosses, relics, crucifixes,
Beads, pictures, rosaries, and pixes,—
The tools of working our salvation
By mere mechanic operation.

Part III (1678)

With books and money plac'd for show
Like nest-eggs to make clients lay,
And for his false opinion pay.

Part III (1678)

Nick Machiavel had ne'er a trick,
Though he gave his name to our Old Nick.

Part III (1678)

The hollow-hearted, disaffected,
And close malignant are detected ;
Who lay their lives and fortunes down,
For pledges to secure our own.

Part III (1678)

What makes all doctrines plain and clear?
About two hundred pounds a year.
And that which was prov'd true before
Prove false again? Two hundred more.

Part III (1678)

Like men condemn'd to thunder-bolts,
Who, ere the blow, become mere dolts;
Or fools besotted with their crimes,
That know not how to shift betimes,
And neither have the hearts to stay,
Nor wit enough to run away.

Part III (1678)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Samuel Butler (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.