He has spent his life best who has enjoyed it most. God will take care that we do not enjoy it any more than is good for us. – Samuel Butler
To himself everyone is an immortal. He may know that he is going to die, but he can never know that he is dead. – Samuel Butler
Men are seldom more commonplace than on supreme occasions. – Samuel Butler
Often the magical elements in my books are standing in for elements of the real world, the small and magical-in-their-own-right sorts of things that we take for granted and no longer pay attention to, like the bonds of friendship that entwine our own lives with those of other people and places. – Charles de Lint