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Ambrose Bierce Quotes - Page 38

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

ZOOLOGY, n. The science and history of the animal kingdom, including its king, the House Fly (Musca maledicta). The father of Zoology was Aristotle, as is universally conceded, but the name of its mother has not come

ZOOLOGY, n. The science and history of the animal kingdom, including its king, the House Fly ("Musca maledicta"). The father of Zoology was Aristotle, as is universally conceded, but the name of its mother has not come down to us.

Mother, Kings, Father

Ambrose Bierce (2011). “Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs”, p.843, Library of America

LAST, n. A shoemaker's implement, named by a frowning Providence as opportunity to the maker of puns.

Opportunity, Frowning, Lasts

Ambrose Bierce (2009). “The Devil's Dictionary: Easyread Large Bold Edition”, p.163, ReadHowYouWant.com

Learning, n. The kind of ignorance distinguishing the studious.

Education, Ignorance, Kind

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.148, University of Georgia Press

Impartial - unable to perceive any promise of personal advantage from espousing either side of a controversy.

Promise, Literature, Sides

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.119, University of Georgia Press

WHEAT, n. A cereal from which a tolerably good whisky can be made; . . . also for bread. The French are said to eat more bread "per capita" of population than any other people, which is natural, for only they know how to make the stuff palatable.

Food, Cereal, People

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2540, Delphi Classics

HYENA, n. A beast held in reverence by some oriental nations from its habit of frequenting at night the burial-places of the dead. But the medical student does that

Night, Doe, Hyenas

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

PHYSICIAN, n. One upon whom we set our hopes when ill and our dogs when well.

Hope, Dog, Health

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

True, more than a half of the green graves in the Grafton cemetery are marked "Unknown," and sometimes it occurs that one thinks of the contradiction involved in "honoring the memory" of him of whom no memory remains to honor; but the attempt seems to do no great harm to the living, even to the logical.

Memories, Thinking, Honor

Ambrose Bierce (2002). “Shadows of Blue & Gray: The Civil War Writings of Ambrose Bierce”, p.280, Forge Books

Suddenly to change one's opinions and go over to another party. The most notable flop on record was that of Saul of Tarsus, who has been severely criticised as a turn-coat by some of our partisan journals.

Change, Art, Records

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.67, 谷月社

MONOSYLLABIC, adj. Composed of words of one syllable . . . Commonly Saxon - that is to say, words of a barbarous people destitute of ideas and incapable of any but the most elementary sentiments and emotions.

Ideas, People, Emotion

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.166, University of Georgia Press

IMPENITENCE, n. A state of mind intermediate in point of time between sin and punishment.

Time, Punishment, Mind

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.119, University of Georgia Press

A short story padded. A species of composition bearing the same relation to literature that the panorama bears to art. As it is too long to be read at a sitting the impressions made by its successive parts are successively effaced, as in the pa

Success, Art, Long

Justice is a commodity which in a more or less adulterated condition the State sells to the citizen as a reward for his allegiance, taxes and personal service.

Justice, Rewards, Citizens

Ambrose Bierce (2006). “Terror by Night: Classic Ghost and Horror Stories”, p.9, Wordsworth Editions

PERFECTION, n. An imaginary state of quality distinguished from the actual by an element known as excellence; an attribute of the critic.

Perfection, Excellence, Quality

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.161, 谷月社

When publicly censured our first instinct is to make everybody a codefendant.

Firsts, Instinct

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Epigrams by Ambrose Bierce”, p.9, e-artnow

Uncommon extension of the fear of death.

Aging, Fear Of Death, Uncommon

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.130, 谷月社

CEMETERY, n. An isolated suburban spot where mourners match lies, poets write at a target and stone-cutters spell for a wager.

Lying, Writing, Target

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.29, 谷月社

HOMŒOPATHIST, n. The humorist of the medical profession.

Science, Medical Profession, Humour

Ambrose Bierce (2011). “Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs”, p.663, Library of America

FINANCE, n. The art or science of managing revenues and resources for the best advantage of the manager. The pronunciation of this word with the i long and the accent on the first syllable is one of America's most precious discoveries and possessions.

Art, Discovery, America

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.67, 谷月社

Snow pursued by the wind is not wholly unlike a retreating army. In the open field it ranges itself in ranks and battalions; where it can get a foothold it makes a stand; where it can take cover it does so. You may see whole platoons of snow cowering behind a bit of broken wall.

Wall, Army, Wind

Ambrose Bierce (2015). “Can Such Things Be?”, p.104, Sheba Blake Publishing

RABBLE, n. In a republic, those who exercise a supreme authority tempered by fraudulent elections. The rabble is like the sacred Simurgh, of Arabian fable - omnipotent on condition that it do nothing.

Exercise, Republic, Sacred

Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2491, Delphi Classics

FIB, n. A lie that has not cut its teeth. An habitual liar's nearest approach to truth: the perigee of his eccentric orbit.

Liars, Lying, Cutting

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.80, University of Georgia Press

PASTIME, n. A device for promoting dejection. Gentle exercise for intellectual debility.

Exercise, Intellectual, Gentle

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

MAGIC, n. An art of converting superstition into coin. There are other arts serving the same high purpose, but the discreet lexicographer does not name them.

Art, Names, Magic

Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.159, University of Georgia Press

A pessimist asked God for relief. Ah, you wish me to restore your hope and cheerfulness, said God. No, replied the petitioner, I wish you to create something that would justify them. The world is all created,said God, but you have overlooked something

Wish, Relief, World

Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.155, 谷月社

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