Its past and now invisible lives will influence its desires more powerfully than anything it may itself be able to add to the sum of its likes and dislikes; nevertheless, over and above preconceived opinion and the habits to which all are slaves, there is a small salary, or, as it were, agency commission, which each may have for himself, and spend according to his fancy; from this, indeed, income-tax must be deducted; still there remains a little margin of individual taste, and here, high up on this narrow, inaccessible ledge of our souls, from year to year a breed of not unprolific variations build where reason cannot reach them to despoil them; for de gustibus non est disputandum.
"Luck or Cunning?"
Samuel Butler
There are other things to be done in this life besides riding across country in the wake of the flying pack, glorious and exhilarating though the pastime be; and the sooner these great wastes of unprolific land are once more transformed into wheat-growing plough, the better will it be for all of us.
"A Cotswold Village"
J. Arthur Gibbs
It is popularly ascribed to the over-cultivation of the race, as plants and animals highly civilised-that is, greatly modified and bred to an artificial excellence by human agency-are certainly delicate, unprolific, and especially difficult to rear.
"Across the Zodiac"
Percy Greg