“It must be remembered that we have only heard one side of the case. God has written all the books.”

—  Samuel Butler

An Apology for the Devil
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part XIV - Higgledy-Piggledy
Source: The Note Books of Samuel Butler

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "It must be remembered that we have only heard one side of the case. God has written all the books." by Samuel Butler?
Samuel Butler photo
Samuel Butler 232
novelist 1835–1902

Related quotes

Francis Bacon photo

“God has, in fact, written two books, not just one. Of course, we are all familiar with the first book he wrote, namely Scripture. But he has written a second book called creation.”

Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and author
John Betjeman photo

“History must not be written with bias, and both sides must be given, even if there is only one side.”

John Betjeman (1906–1984) English poet, writer and broadcaster

First and Last Loves (1952).

“The Bible is different from all other books; other books are written by man, but the Bible not only contains the sayings and commandments of God, but was also written entirely under divine inspiration. So we might say that it is God's book, which he gave to man to lead him to everlasting life.”

Matta El Meskeen (1919–2006) Egyptian monk

Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way

Sir Francis Buller, 1st Baronet photo

“All arguments on the hardship of a case, either on one side or the other, must be rejected, when we are pronouncing what the law is; for such arguments are only quicksands in the law, and, if indulged, will soon swallow up every principle of it.”

Sir Francis Buller, 1st Baronet (1746–1800) British judge

Yates v. Hall, (1785), 1 T. R. 80.

F. Scott Fitzgerald photo

“Great books write themselves, only bad books have to be written.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) American novelist and screenwriter
Cyndi Lauper photo

“on tolerance of gays: "You always have to remember - no matter what you're told - that God loves all the flowers, even the wild ones that grow on the side of the highway."”

Cyndi Lauper (1953) American singer, songwriter, actress and activist

Interview with Matthew Rettenmund in his book "Totally Awesome 80's" (1996), p. 149-150

Novalis photo

“Many counterrevolutionary books have been written in favor of the Revolution. But Burke has written a revolutionary book against the Revolution.”

Novalis book Blüthenstaub

Fragment No. 104; on Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790).
Blüthenstaub (1798)

“I regard my life as rather a failure in the only thing in which I wanted it to succeed. I have not written the books I ought to have written and I have written a lot of books I should not have written.”

Stephen Spender (1909–1995) English poet and man of letters

Response to a would be biographer in 1980, as quoted in "When Stephen met Sylvia" in The Guardian (24 April 2004) http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1201328,00.html
Context: I am very honoured by your wanting to write a life of me. But the fact is I regard my life as rather a failure in the only thing in which I wanted it to succeed. I have not written the books I ought to have written and I have written a lot of books I should not have written. My life as lived by me has been interesting to me but to write truthfully about it would probably cause much pain to people close to me — and I always feel that the feelings of the living are more important than the monuments of the dead.

Related topics