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Ambrose Bierce Quotes - Page 2

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

In each human heart are a tiger, a pig, an ass and a nightingale. Diversity of character is due to their unequal activity.

In each human heart are a tiger, a pig, an ass and a nightingale. Diversity of character is due to their unequal activity.

Funny, Integrity, Heart

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.68, University of Georgia Press

RUMOR, n. A favorite weapon of the assassins of character.

Character, Rumor, Assassins

Ambrose Bierce (2012). “The Devil's Dictionary”, p.110, Courier Corporation

If you want to read a perfect book there is only one way: write it.

Book, Writing, Perfect

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2692, Delphi Classics

Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance.

Distance, Technology, Devil

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.225, University of Georgia Press

REFLECTION,n: An Action of the mind whereby we obtain a clearer view of our relation to the things of yesterday and are able to avoid the perils that we shall not again encounter

Reflection, Views, Yesterday

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.195, University of Georgia Press

Painting, n.: The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather, and exposing them to the critic.

Art, Weather, Painting

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2476, Delphi Classics

The wife, or bitter half.

Wife, Half, Bitter

Amnesty, n. The state's magnanimity to those offenders whom it would be too expensive to punish.

Punishment, Would Be, Amnesty

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.15, University of Georgia Press

We must stop chasing dollars, stop lying, stop cheating, stop ignoring art, literature, and all the refining agencies and instrumentalities of civilization.

Cheating, Art, Lying

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

gratitude, n. A sentiment lying midway between a benefit received and a benefit expected.

Gratitude, Lying, Benefits

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.100, University of Georgia Press

To be positive is to be mistaken at the top of one's voice.

Positive, Voice, Certainty

Ambrose Bierce, S. T. Joshi, David E. Schultz (1998). “A Sole Survivor: Bits of Autobiography”, p.18, Univ. of Tennessee Press

FROG, n. A reptile with edible legs

Food, Science, Cooking

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.72, 谷月社

Day, n. A period of twenty-four hours, mostly misspent.

Time, Twenties, Four

Ambrose Bierce (2011). “Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs”, p.603, Library of America

Happiness has not to all the same name: to Youth she is known as the Future; Age knows her as the Dream.

Happiness, Dream, Names

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2691, Delphi Classics

Kindness n: A brief preface to ten volumes of exaction.

Kindness, Volume, Ten

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.142, University of Georgia Press

Cribbage, n. A substitute for conversation among those to whom nature has denied ideas.

Ideas, Substitutes, Conversation

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.45, University of Georgia Press

He who thinks with difficulty believes with alacrity.

Believe, Thinking, Alacrity

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.1216, Delphi Classics

UXORIOUSNESS, n. A perverted affection that has strayed to one's own wife.

Wife, Affection

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

INTERPRETER, n. One who enables two persons of different languages to understand each other by repeating to each what it would have been to the interpreter's advantage for the other to have said.

Two, Understanding, Different

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.135, University of Georgia Press

What is worth doing is worth the trouble of asking somebody to do it.

Inspirational, Work, Asking

Ambrose Bierce (2012). “The Devil's Dictionary”, p.114, Courier Corporation

Idiot - A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot's activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but "pervades and regulates the whole." He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line.

Fashion, Powerful, Decision

Ambrose Bierce (2009). “The Devil's Dictionary: Easyread Super Large 18pt Edition”, p.150, ReadHowYouWant.com

Distance, n. The only thing that the rich are willing for the poor to call theirs and keep.

Distance, Rich, Poor

Ambrose Bierce (2004). “The Devil's Dictionaries: The Best of the Devil's Dictionary and the American Heretic's Dictionary”, p.23, See Sharp Press

Dentist: a prestidigitator who, putting metal into your mouth, pulls coin out of your pocket.

Funny, Science, Pockets

The Devil's Dictionary

Who never doubted, never half believed. Where doubt is, there truth is - it is her shadow.

Doubt, Shadow, Half

Hippogriff, n. An animal (now extinct) which was half horse and half griffin. The griffin was itself a compound creature, half lion and half eagle. The hippogriff was actually, therefore, only one-quarter eagle, which is two dollars and fifty cents in gold. The study of zoology is full of surprises.

Horse, Animal, Eagles

Ambrose Bierce (2012). “The Devil's Dictionary”, p.51, Courier Corporation

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