
“Dignity is like morality,” Mirabilis barked. “Too much is as bad as too little.”
Source: The Native Star (2010), Chapter 20, “The Otherwhere Marble” (p. 274)
“Dignity is like morality,” Mirabilis barked. “Too much is as bad as too little.”
Source: The Native Star (2010), Chapter 20, “The Otherwhere Marble” (p. 274)
“None are so likely to believe too little as those who have begun by believing too much.”
The Tragic Sense of Life (1913), IV : The Essence of Catholicism
Context: ... as the great Unitarian preacher Channing pointed out, that in France and Spain there are multitudes who have proceeded from rejecting Popery to absolute atheism, because "the fact is, that false and absurd doctrines, when exposed, have a natural tendency to beget skepticism in those who receive them without reflection. None are so likely to believe too little as those who have begun by believing too much." Here is, indeed, the terrible danger of believing too much. But no! the terrible danger comes from another quarter — from seeking to believe with the reason and not with the life.
As quoted in Details (1993-11).
Interviews (1989-1994), Print
Vice and Virtue, iii
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part II - Elementary Morality
“Sweet words are like honey, a little may refresh, but too much gluts the stomach.”
Source: Shadows Linger (1984), Chapter 32, “Juniper: Visitors” (p. 365)
“If we keep an open mind, too much is likely to fall into it.”
In "Samples from Almost Illegible Notebooks", ADAM International Review, No. 299 (1962)