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Ambrose Bierce Quotes - Page 13

All Quotes Accidents Adversity Affection Age Aging Alcohol Army Art Assumption Atheism Attitude Authority Beauty Belief Boundaries Business Certainty Change Character Cheating Childhood Children Choices Church Clarinet Confusion Cooking Country Creation Critics Culture Cynicism Death Democracy Desire Devil Diplomacy Disappointment Doubt Drinking Dying Earth Education Ego Energy Envy Eternity Evidence Evil Excellence Expectations Failure Faith Fame Family Fashion Fear Feelings Finance Food Friendship Funeral Funny Future Genius Giving God Gold Growth Guilt Happiness Hatred Heart Heaven Hell History Home Honor Hope House Ignorance Imagination Independence Injustice Insanity Inspiration Inspirational Joy Judging Judgment Justice Kindness Knowledge Labor Language Latin Leadership Learning Liars Liberty Life Literature Logic Losing Love Lying Marriage Math Military Money Morality Motherhood Music Nature Nihilism Office Opportunity Optimism Passion Past Patriotism Peace Philosophy Pleasure Politics Power Prejudice Preparation Pride Property Prosperity Purpose Quality Reality Religion Responsibility Revenge Revolution Running Sacrifice School Science Silence Sin Skins Son Soul Spirituality Spring Stupidity Style Success Suffering Taxes Temptation Theology Time Truth Understanding Violence Virtue Wall War Water Wealth Wife Wine Wisdom Work Worship Writing Youth

True, man does not know woman. But neither does woman.

True, man does not know woman. But neither does woman.

Men, Doe, True Man

Ambrose Bierce (2015). “A Cynic Looks at Life”, p.37, Sheba Blake Publishing

History is an account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools.

Lying, History, Soldier

Cynic's Word Book (1906) p. 161

Molecule, n.: The ultimate, indivisible unit of matter. It is distinguished from the corpuscle, also the ultimate, indivisible unit of matter, by a closer resemblance to the atom, also the ultimate, indivisible unit of matter ... The ion differs from the molecule, the corpuscle and the atom in that it is an ion.

Ions, Molecules, Atoms

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.165, University of Georgia Press

What a woman most admires in a man is distinction among men. What a man most admires in a woman is devotion to himself.

Men, Devotion, Distinction

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2690, Delphi Classics

PROPHECY, n. The art and practice of selling one's credibility for future delivery.

Art, Future, Practice

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.189, University of Georgia Press

ACCOMPLICE, n. One associated with another in a crime, having guilty knowledge and complicity, as an attorney who defends a criminal, knowing him guilty. This view of the attorney's position in the matter has not hitherto commanded the assent of attorneys, no one having offered them a fee for assenting.

Views, Knowing, Matter

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2352, Delphi Classics

Optimist – A proponent of the doctrine that black is white.

Optimistic, White, Optimism

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.175, University of Georgia Press

ROPE, n. An obsolescent appliance for reminding assassins that they too are mortal. It is put about the neck and remains in place one's whole life long.

Life, Long, Rope

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2504, Delphi Classics

HYDRA, n. A kind of animal that the ancients catalogued under many heads.

Kindness, Animal, Hydra

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.94, 谷月社

ULTIMATUM, n. In diplomacy, a last demand before resorting to concessions.

Demand, Lasts, Diplomacy

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.227, 谷月社

REASON, n. Propensitate of prejudice.

Prejudice, Reason

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.177, 谷月社

Dog - a kind of additional or subsidiary Deity designed to catch the overflow and surplus of the world's worship.

Dog, Literature, World

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.48, 谷月社

URBANITY, n. The kind of civility that urban observers ascribe to dwellers in all cities but New York. Its commonest expression is heard in the words, "I beg your pardon," and it is not consistent with disregard of the rights of others.

New York, Rights, Expression

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2534, Delphi Classics

A lottery is a tax on stupidity.

Stupidity, Taxes, Lottery

Electricity is the power that causes all natural phenomena not known to be caused by something else

Home, Energy, Causes

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.53, 谷月社

Wit - the salt with which the American humorist spoils his intellectual cookery by leaving it out.

Native American, Humor, Leaving

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.238, University of Georgia Press

PAIN, n. An uncomfortable frame of mind that may have a physical basis in something that is being done to the body, or may be purely mental, caused by the good fortune of another.

Pain, Mind, Done

Ambrose Bierce (2011). “Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs”, p.743, Library of America

The circus a place where horses, ponies and elephants are permitted to see men, women and children acting the fool.

Horse, Children, Animal

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.31, 谷月社

Accordion, n. An instrument in harmony with the sentiments of an assassin.

Musical, Assassins, Harmony

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.7, 谷月社

REALISM, n. The art of depicting nature as it is seem by toads. The charm suffusing a landscape painted by a mole, or a story written by a measuring-worm.

Art, Nature, Moles

Ambrose Bierce (2000). “Tales of Soldiers and Civilians: and Other Stories”, p.18, Penguin

Labor is one of the processes by which A acquires property for B.

Process, Labor, Property

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2444, Delphi Classics

PIANO, n. A parlor utensil for subduing the impenitent visitor. It is operated by depressing the keys of the machine and the spirits of the audience.

Funny, Music, Keys

Ambrose Bierce (2009). “The Devil's Dictionary: Easyread Large Bold Edition”, p.224, ReadHowYouWant.com

PRESIDENT, n. The leading figure in a small group of men of whom - and of whom only - it is positively known that immense numbers of their countrymen did not want any of them for President.

Leadership, Men, Numbers

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2486, Delphi Classics

Here's to woman! Would that we could fold into her arms without falling into her hands.

Love, Women, Fall

ADMINISTRATION, n. An ingenious abstraction in politics, designed to receive the kicks and cuffs due to the premier or president. A man of straw, proof against bad-egging and dead-catting.

Men, President, Cuffs

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.9, 谷月社

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