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Ambrose Bierce Quotes - Page 33

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

APHORISM, n. Predigested wisdom.

APHORISM, n. Predigested wisdom.

Wisdom, Aphorism

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.12, 谷月社

A man is known by the company he organizes.

Business, Work, Men

An immaterial but visible being that inhabited the air when the air was an element and before it was fatally polluted with factory smoke, sewer gas and similar products of civilization.

Air, Civilization, Elements

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.215, 谷月社

MALTHUSIAN, adj. Pertaining to Malthus and his doctrines, who believed in artificially limiting population, but found that it could not be done by talking. Herod of Judea, all the famous soldiers have been practical exponents of the Malthusian idea.

Talking, Ideas, Soldier

HUMORIST, n. A plague that would have softened down the hoar austerity of Pharaoh's heart and persuaded him to dismiss Israel with his best wishes, cat-quick.

Heart, Cat, Israel

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.114, University of Georgia Press

Land: A part of the earth's surface, considered as property. The theory that land is property subject to private ownership and control is the foundation of modern society, and is eminently worthy of the superstructure.

Land, Foundation, Earth

Ambrose Bierce (2011). “Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs”, p.696, Library of America

LOSS, n. Privation of that which we had, or had not. Thus, in the latter sense, it is said of a defeated candidate that he "lost his election".

Loss, Losing, Election

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.155, University of Georgia Press

A man is the sum of his ancestors; to reform him you must begin with a dead ape and work downward through a million graves. He is like the lower end of a suspended chain; you can sway him slightly to the right or the left, but remove your hand and he falls into line with the other links.

Fall, Men, Hands

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

OLD, adj. In that stage of usefulness which is not inconsistent with general inefficiency, as an "old man". Discredited by lapse of time and offensive to the popular taste, as an "old" book.

Time, Book, Men

Ambrose Bierce (2012). “The Devil's Dictionary”, p.87, Courier Corporation

X, n. In our alphabet being a needless letter has an added invincibility to the attacks of the spelling reformers, and like them, will doubtless last as long as the language.

Long, Letters, Lasts

Ambrose Bierce (2012). “The Devil's Dictionary”, p.137, Courier Corporation

PLUNDER, v. To take the property of another without observing the decent and customary reticences of theft. To wrest the wealth of A from B and leave C lamenting a vanishing opportunity.

Opportunity, Vanishing, Wealth

Ambrose Bierce (2009). “The Devil's Dictionary: Easyread Super Large 24pt Edition”, p.125, ReadHowYouWant.com

AFFLICTION, n. An acclimatizing process preparing the soul for another and bitter world.

Soul, World, Affliction

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

Suffrage, noun. Expression of opinion by means of a ballot. The right of suffrage (which is held to be both a privilege and a duty) means, as commonly interpreted, the right to vote for the man of another man's choice, and is highly prized.

Mean, Men, Expression

Example is better than following it.

Example, Following

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

To Dogmatism the Spirit of Inquiry is the same as the Spirit of Evil.

Evil, Inquiry, Spirit

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Epigrams by Ambrose Bierce”, p.2, e-artnow

REPARTEE, n. Prudent insult in retort. Practiced by gentlemen with a constitutional aversion to violence, but a strong disposition to offend. In a war of words, the tactics of the North American Indian.

Strong, War, Gentleman

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.197, University of Georgia Press

Philanthropist, n.: A rich (and usually bald) old gentleman who has trained himself to grin while his conscience is picking his pocket.

Gentleman, Pockets, Philanthropy

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.181, University of Georgia Press

HUSBAND, n. One who, having dined, is charged with the care of the plate.

Husband, Care, Plates

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.115, University of Georgia Press

UBIQUITY, n. The gift or power of being in all places at one time, but not in all places at all times, which is omnipresence, an attribute of God and the luminiferous ether only.

Time, Power, Ubiquity

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

ACKNOWLEDGE, v.t. To confess. Acknowledgment of one another's faults is the highest duty imposed by our love of truth.

Love, Truth, Faults

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.11, University of Georgia Press

When prosperous the fool trembles for the evil that is to come; in adversity the philosopher smiles for the good that he has had.

Adversity, Evil, Fool

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.1220, Delphi Classics

LEAD, n. A heavy blue-gray metal much used in giving stability to light lovers - particularly to those who love not wisely but other men's wives.

Love, Men, Light

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

Along the road of life are many pleasure resorts, but think not that by tarrying in them you will take more days to the journey. The day of your arrival is already recorded.

Life, Journey, Thinking

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Epigrams by Ambrose Bierce”, p.13, e-artnow

CANNON, n. An instrument employed in the rectification of national boundaries.

Peace, War, Boundaries

"The Devil's Dictionary". Book by Ambrose Bierce, 1906.

Slang is a foul pool at which every dunce fills his bucket, and then sets up as a fountain.

Buckets, Pool, Fountain

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.1219, Delphi Classics

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