Samuel Butler

True as the dial to the sun,
Although it be not shin'd upon.

True as the dial to the sun,
Although it be not shin'd upon.

He ne'er consider'd it as loth
To look a gift-horse in the mouth,
And very wisely would read more

He ne'er consider'd it as loth
To look a gift-horse in the mouth,
And very wisely would lay forth
No more upon it than 'twas worth;
But as he got it freely, so
He spent it frank and freely too:
For saints themselves will sometimes be,
Of gifts that cost them nothing, free.

Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.

Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.

Still amorous, and fond, and billing,
Like Philip and Mary, on a shilling.

Still amorous, and fond, and billing,
Like Philip and Mary, on a shilling.

For zeal's a dreadful termagant,
That teaches saints to tear and cant.

For zeal's a dreadful termagant,
That teaches saints to tear and cant.