Belief like any other moving body follows the path of least resistance.
Samuel ButlerRead
Evil is like water, it abounds, is cheap, soon fouls, but runs itself clear of taint.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Evil, like water, is pervasive and easy to come by, but it eventually becomes corrupted and can cleanse itself.
This quote by Samuel Butler uses the metaphor of water to illustrate the nature of evil. Just as water is abundant and essential, evil is prevalent in society and often seen as a commonplace occurrence. However, like water that can become polluted, evil too can become corrupted and lead to negative consequences. Ultimately, the idea is that while evil may exist in abundance, it has a way of revealing its true nature over time, running clear of its taint as individuals and societies confront and address it.
Themes
EvilWaterNatureCorruptionSociety
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote during a discussion on morality in a philosophy class.
More from Samuel Butler
All quotes →To know God better is only to realize how impossible it is that we should ever know him at all. I know not which is more childish to deny him, or define him.
Samuel ButlerRead
Academic and aristocratic people live in such an uncommon atmosphere that common sense can rarely reach them.
Samuel ButlerRead
An apology for the devil: it must be remembered that we have heard one side of the case. God has written all the books.
Samuel ButlerRead
Young people have a marvelous faculty of either dying or adapting themselves to circumstances.
Samuel ButlerRead
People care more about being thought to have taste than about being thought either good, clever or amiable.
Samuel ButlerRead
Similar quotes
I am convinced that the deepest desire within each of us is to be liberated from the controlling influences of our own psychic madness or patterns of fear. All other things—the disdain of ordinary life, the need to control others rather than be controlled, the craving for material goods as a means of security and protection against the winds of chaos—are external props that serve as substitutes for the real battle, which is the one waged within the individual soul.
Caroline MyssRead
Chastity - you can carry it too far.
Mark TwainRead
Lastly, he must remember that he himself hath no exemption from the common lot, but that he is bound by the same laws of mortality, and liable to the same ailments and afflictions with his fellows.
Thomas SydenhamRead
Perhaps if you know you are insane then you are not insane. Or you are becoming sane, finally.
Philip K. DickRead
In my dreams, I never have an age.
Madeleine L'EngleRead
You can't make a direct comparison between middle-class African Americans and middle-class white Americans, affluent African Americans and affluent white Americans. The amount of wealth tends to be less.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead