“A skilful leech is better far
Than half an hundred men of war,
So he appear'd; and by his skill,
No less than dint of sword, cou'd kill.”
Source: Hudibras, Part I (1663–1664)
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Samuel Butler (poet) 81
poet and satirist 1612–1680Related quotes
The Origin of Species: 150th Anniversary Edition (2009)
“To live like a lion for a day is far better than to live for a hundred years like a jackal.”
As quoted in Encyclopedia of Asian History (1988) Vol. 4, p. 104
Variants:
It is far better to live like a lion for a day than to live like a jackal for a hundred years.
It is far better to live like a tiger for a day than to live like a jackal for a hundred years.
Variant mentioned in Tipu Sultan : A Study in Diplomacy and Confrontation (1982) by B. Sheikh Ali, p. 329
Keynote address, Democratic National Convention (13 July 1992). (see External links)
“Knowledge is a better weapon than a sword.”
Source: Raven's Shadow
The New Central European Observer, published 1948
“Less than the dust beneath thy chariot wheel,
Less than the rust that never stained thy sword”
Less Than the Dust
Indian Love Lyrics (aka Garden of Kama) (1901)
Context: I do not think idolatry the worst of sins. Cruelty is the worst of sins. It is far better to worship a false God, than to injure your neighbor—far better to bow before a monstrosity of stone, than to enslave your fellow-men.
“Better to have beasts that let themselves be killed than men who run away.”
Act 11, sc. 2
The Devil and the Good Lord (1951)
“As it is far better to excel in any single art, than to arrive only at a mediocrity in several; so on the other hand, a moderate skill in several is to be preferred, where one cannot attain to excellency in any.”
Ut satius unum aliquid insigniter facere quam plura mediocriter, ita plurima mediocriter, si non possis unum aliquid insigniter.
Letter 29, 1.
Letters, Book IX