Letters are like wine; if they are sound they ripen with keeping. A man should lay down letters as he does a cellar of wine. – Samuel Butler
Half the vices which the world condemns most loudly have seeds of good in them and require moderated use rather than total abstinence. – Samuel Butler
It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The want of money is so quite as truly. – Samuel Butler
In a mans letters you know, Madam, his soul lies naked, his letters are only the mirror of his breast, whatever passes within him is shown undisguised in its natural process. Nothing is inverted, nothing distorted, you see systems in their elements, you discover actions in their motives. – Samuel Johnson