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Ambrose Bierce Quotes - Page 31

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

Cabbage: a familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as a man's head.

Cabbage: a familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as a man's head.

Wise, Food, Men

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.25, 谷月社

Take not God's name in vain; select a time when it will have effect.

Funny, God, Names

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.41, 谷月社

Truth - An ingenious compound of desirability and appearance.

Funny, Truth, Appearance

Ambrose Bierce (2011). “Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs”, p.825, Library of America

HOMOEOPATHY, n. A school of medicine midway between Allopathy and Christian Science. To the last both the others are distinctly inferior, for Christian Science will cure imaginary diseases, and they can not.

Christian, School, Science

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.111, University of Georgia Press

Magpie, n.: A bird whose theivish disposition suggested to someone that it might be taught to talk.

Bird, Might, Taught

In this world one must have a name; it prevents confusion, even when it does not establish identity. Some, though, are known by numbers, which also seem inadequate distinctions.

Names, Numbers, Confusion

Ambrose Bierce (2012). “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and Other Stories”, p.128, Courier Corporation

ZANY, n. A popular character in old Italian plays, who imitated with ludicrous incompetence the _buffone_, or clown, and was therefore the ape of an ape; for the clown himself imitated the serious characters of the play. The zany was progenitor to the specialist in humor, as we to-day have the unhappiness to know him. In the zany we see an example of creation; in the humorist, of transmission. Another excellent specimen of the modern zany is the curate, who apes the rector, who apes the bishop, who apes the archbishop, who apes the devil.

Character, Italian, Play

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.240, 谷月社

MUSTANG, n. An indocile horse of the western plains. In English society, the American wife of an English nobleman.

Horse, Wife, Society

Ambrose Bierce (2011). “Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs”, p.730, Library of America

FICKLENESS, n. The iterated satiety of an enterprising affection.

Affection, Satiety, Enterprising

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.66, 谷月社

HOG, n. A bird remarkable for the catholicity of its appetite and serving to illustrate that of ours. Among the Mahometans and Jews, the hog is not in favor as an article of diet, but is respected for the delicacy and the melody of its voice. It is chiefly as a songster that the fowl is esteemed; the cage of him in full chorus has been known to draw tears from two persons at once. The scientific name of this dicky-bird is _Porcus Rockefelleri_. Mr. Rockefeller did not discover the hog, but it is considered his by right of resemblance.

Names, Two, Voice

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2419, Delphi Classics

FOLLY, n. That "gift and faculty divine" whose creative and controlling energy inspires Man's mind, guides his actions and adorns his life.

Life, Men, Creative

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2400, Delphi Classics

Alien - an American sovereign in his probationary state.

Immigration, Sovereign, Aliens

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.10, 谷月社

A statesman who shakes the fruit trees of his neighbors - to dislodge the worms.

Tree, Fruit, Culture

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.13, University of Georgia Press

An accident is an inevitable occurrence due to the actions of immutable natural laws.

Law, Action, Natural

Ambrose Bierce (2011). “Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs”, p.567, Library of America

WEAKNESSES, n.pl. Certain primal powers of Tyrant Woman wherewith she holds dominion over the male of her species, binding him to the service of her will and paralyzing his rebellious energies.

Tyrants, Weakness, Energy

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.232, 谷月社

Litigant. A person about to give up his skin for the hope of retaining his bones.

Funny, Hope, Giving Up

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.152, University of Georgia Press

MAJESTY, n. The state and title of a king. Regarded with a just contempt by the Most Eminent Grand Masters, Grand Chancellors, Great Incohonees and Imperial Potentates of the ancient and honorable orders of republican America.

Kings, Order, America

Ambrose Bierce (2011). “Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs”, p.718, Library of America

PROJECTILE, n. The final arbiter in international disputes. With the growth of prudence in military affairs the projectile came more and more into favor, and is now held in high esteem by the most courageous.

Courage, Military, Growth

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.172, 谷月社

A system of pitfalls thoughtfully prepared for the feet for the self-made man, along the path by which he advances to distinction.

Men, Self, Feet

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2410, Delphi Classics

FRYING-PAN, n. One part of the penal apparatus employed in that punitive institution, a woman's kitchen. The frying-pan was invented by Calvin, and by him used in cooking span-long infants that had died without baptism; and observing one day the horrible torment of a tramp who had incautiously pulled a fried babe from the waste-dump and devoured it, it occurred to the great divine to rob death of its terrors by introducing the frying-pan into every household in Geneva. Thence it spread to all corners of the world, and has been of invaluable assistance in the propagation of his sombre faith.

Long, Baptism, Cooking

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.91, University of Georgia Press

OUT-OF-DOORS, n. That part of one's environment upon which no government has been able to collect taxes. Chiefly useful to inspire poets.

Fun, Inspiration, Government

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.176, University of Georgia Press

LEAD, n. A heavy blue-gray metal much used ... as a counterpoise to an argument of such weight that it turns the scale of debate the wrong way. An interesting fact in the chemistry of international controversy is that at the point of contact of two patriotisms lead is precipitated in great quantities.

Science, Blue, Two

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2446, Delphi Classics

TENACITY, n. A certain quality of the human hand in its relation to the coin of the realm. It attains its highest development in the hand of authority and is considered a serviceable equipment for a career in politics.

Hands, Careers, Quality

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

TEDIUM, n. Ennui, the state or condition of one that is bored. Many fanciful derivations of the word have been affirmed, but so high an authority as Father Jape says that it comes from a very obvious source --the first words of the ancient Latin hymn _Te Deum Laudamus_. In this apparently natural derivation there is something that saddens.

Father, Latin, Hymns

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2526, Delphi Classics

EJECTION, n. An approved remedy for the disease of garrulity. It is also much used in cases of extreme poverty.

Disease, Poverty, Approval

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

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