Authors:

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Ambrose Bierce Quotes - Page 14

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

Age, with his eyes in the back of his head, thinks it wisdom to see the bogs through which he has floundered.

Age, with his eyes in the back of his head, thinks it wisdom to see the bogs through which he has floundered.

Eye, Thinking, Age

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.1221, Delphi Classics

Ambidextrous, adj.: Able to pick with equal skill a right-hand pocket or a left.

Hands, Skills, Pockets

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2355, Delphi Classics

RAILROAD, n. The chief of many mechanical devices enabling us to get away from where we are to where we are no better off. For this purpose the railroad is held in highest favor by the optimist, for it permits him to make the transit with great expedition.

Science, Railroads, Purpose

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.176, 谷月社

ENOUGH, pro. All there is in the world if you like it.

World, You Like It, Enough

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.55, 谷月社

CLOCK, n. A machine of great moral value to man, allaying his concern for the future by reminding him what a lot of time remains to him.

Time, Future, Men

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

Patriotism, n. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name. In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit it is the first.

Names, Patriotism, Ambitious

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.160, 谷月社

WAR, n. A by-product of the arts of peace. The most menacing political condition is a period of international amity.

Art, Peace, War

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “The Devil's Dictionary (or The Cynic's Wordbook: Unabridged with all the Definitions)”, p.217, e-artnow

PLENIPOTENTIARY, adj. Having full power. A Minister Plenipotentiary is a diplomatist possessing absolute authority on condition that he never exert it.

Power, Authority, Ministers

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.184, University of Georgia Press

What this country needs what every country needs occasionally is a good hard bloody war to revive the vice of patriotism on which its existence as a nation depends.

Country, War, Patriotism

Ambrose Bierce, S. T. Joshi, Tryambak Sunand Joshi, David E. Schultz (2003). “A Much Misunderstood Man: Selected Letters of Ambrose Bierce”, p.208, Ohio State University Press

RATIONAL, adj. Devoid of all delusions save those of observation, experience and reflection.

Reflection, Experience, Observation

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.175, 谷月社

CARNIVOROUS, adj. Addicted to the cruelty of devouring the timorous vegetarian, his heirs and assigns.

Sarcastic, Science, Heirs

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2369, Delphi Classics

A book which the Mohammedans foolishly believe to have been written by divine inspiration, but which Christians know to be a wicked imposture, contradictory to the Holy Scriptures.

Christian, Believe, Book

Ambrose Bierce (2012). “The Devil's Dictionary”, p.68, Courier Corporation

Mayonnaise: One of the sauces which serve the French in place of a state religion.

Food, Cooking, Religion

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.162, University of Georgia Press

As a means of dispensing formulated ignorance our boasted public school system is not without merit; it spreads out education sufficiently thin to give everyone enough to make him a more competent fool than he would have been without it.

School, Ignorance, Mean

Ambrose Bierce (2015). “A Cynic Looks at Life”, p.7, Sheba Blake Publishing

Economy, n. Purchasing the barrel of whiskey that you do not need for the price of the cow that you cannot afford.

Needs, Cows, Whiskey

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2387, Delphi Classics

VANITY, n. The tribute of a fool to the worth of the nearest ass.

Vanity, Fool, Ass

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.229, 谷月社

Religions are conclusions for which the facts of nature supply no major premises.

Death, Religious, Dying

Ambrose Bierce (1909). “The Shadow on the Dial: And Other Essays”

Acquaintance: "A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to. A degree of friendship called slight when its object is poor or obscure, and intimate when he is rich or famous.

Degrees, Rich, Obscure

Cynic's Word Book (1906) p. 12

Fashion, n. A despot whom the wise ridicule and obey.

Wise, Fashion, Ridicule

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2396, Delphi Classics

Liberty: One of Imagination's most precious possessions.

Freedom, Patriotic, Imagination

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.150, University of Georgia Press

Pun: A form of wit, to which wise men stoop and fools aspire

Wise, Men, Fool

PITY, n. A failing sense of exemption, inspired by contrast.

Failure, Inspired, Failing

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.165, 谷月社

Peace in international affairs: a period of cheating between periods of fighting

Cheating, Peace, Fighting

It has been observed that one's nose is never so happy as when thrust into the affairs of others from which some physiologists have drawn the inference that the nose is devoid of the sense of smell.

Happiness, Smell, Noses

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2468, Delphi Classics

INTIMACY, n. A relation into which fools are providentially drawn for their mutual destruction.

Fool, Intimacy, Destruction

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.113, 谷月社

You May Also Like: