Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916. Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
The public ear is like a common; there is not much to be got off it, but that little is for the most part grazed down by geese and donkeys. 1 Ideas are for the most part like bad sixpences and we spend our lives in trying to pass them off on one another. 2 Ideas are like shadows—substantial enough until we try to grasp them. 3 We are like billiard balls in a game played by unskillful players, continually being nearly sent into a pocket, but hardly ever getting right into one, except by a fluke. 4 Sin is like a mountain with two aspects according to whether it is viewed before or after it has been reached: yet both aspects are real. 5 Thoughts are like persons met upon a journey; I think them very agreeable at first but soon find, as a rule, that I am tired of them. 6 The use of truth is like the use of words; both truth and words depend greatly upon custom. 7 Words are like money; there is nothing so useless, unless when in actual use. 8
