Ambrose Bierce Quotes - Page 20

• NEPOTISM, n. Appointing your grandmother to office for the good of the party.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Party, Grandmother, Office

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.149, 谷月社

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• A popular vote to ascertain the will of the sovereign.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Popular Vote, Sovereign, Vote

  Ambrose Bierce (2013). “The Devil's Dictionary: Complete & Unabridged”, p.195, Courier Corporation

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• HERMIT, n. A person whose vices and follies are not sociable.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Vices, Hermits, Folly

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.110, University of Georgia Press

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• ENTERTAINMENT, n. Any kind of amusement whose inroads stop short of death by injection.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Death, Kindness, Amusement

  Ambrose Bierce (2009). “The Devil's Dictionary: Easyread Large Bold Edition”, p.71, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• QUOTIENT, n. A number showing how many times a sum of money belonging to one person is contained in the pocket of another - usually about as many times as it can be got there.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Money, Numbers, Pockets

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.174, 谷月社

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• Adolescence: A stage between infancy and adultery.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Inspirational, Teenage, Adultery

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• A malefactor who atones for making your writing nonsense by permitting the compositor to make it unintelligible.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Writing, Nonsense

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.189, University of Georgia Press

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• CONSOLATION, n. The knowledge that a better man is more unfortunate than yourself.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Knowledge, Men, Consolation

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.41, University of Georgia Press

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• PHRENOLOGY, n. The science of picking the pocket through the scalp. It consists in locating and exploiting the organ that one is a dupe with.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Science, Pockets, Phrenology

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

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• ORTHOGRAPHY, n. The science of spelling by the eye instead of the ear.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Eye, Science, Ears

  Ambrose Bierce (1996). “Poems of Ambrose Bierce”, p.75, U of Nebraska Press

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• A leech who, having penetrated the shell of a turtle only to find that the creature has long been dead, deems it expedient to form a new attachment to a fresh turtle.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Turtles, Attachment, Long

  Ambrose Bierce (2011). “Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs”, p.572, Library of America

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• FORCE, n. "Force is but might," the teacher said p/ "That definition's just."/ The boy said naught but throught instead,/ Remembering his pounded head:/ "Force is not might but must!"

  Ambrose Bierce

  Teacher, Boys, Justice

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• DECALOGUE, n. A series of commandments, ten in number - just enough to permit an intelligent selection for observance, but not enough to embarrass the choice.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Intelligent, Numbers, Justice

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

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• POETRY, n. A form of expression peculiar to the Land beyond the Magazines.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Expression, Land, Poetry

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.166, 谷月社

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• WEATHER, n. The climate of an hour. A permanent topic of conversation among persons whom it does not interest, but who have inherited the tendency to chatter about it from naked arboreal ancestors whom it keenly concerned. The setting up of official weather bureaus and their maintenance in mendacity prove that even governments are accessible to suasion by the rude forefathers of the jungle.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Weather, Government, Rude

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

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• TZETZE (or TSETSE) FLY, n. An African insect ("Glossina morsitans") whose bite is commonly regarded as nature's most efficacious remedy for insomnia, though some patients prefer that of the American novelist ("Mendax interminabilis").

  Ambrose Bierce

  Nature, Insomnia, Novelists

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.226, 谷月社

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• You cannot adopt politics as a profession and remain honest.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Political, Liberty, Libertarian

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• SEINE, n. A kind of net for effecting an involuntary change of environment. For fish it is made strong and coarse, but women are more easily taken with a singularly delicate fabric weighted with small, cut stones.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Change, Strong, Taken

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.213, University of Georgia Press

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• LIMB, n. The branch of a tree or the leg of an American woman.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Women, Tree, Legs

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.151, University of Georgia Press

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• Cat: a soft indestructible automaton provided by nature to be kicked when things go wrong in the domestic circle.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Nature, Cat, Circles

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

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• Insurrection. An unsuccessful revolution; disaffection's failure to substitute misrule for bad government.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Success, Failure, Government

  Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.2436, Delphi Classics

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• NEWTONIAN, Pertaining to a philosophy of the universe invented by Newton, who discovered that an apple will fall to the ground, but was unable to say why. His successors and disciples have advanced so far as to be able to say when.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Philosophy, Fall, Science

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.149, 谷月社

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• FLAG, n. A colored rag borne above troops and hoisted on forts and ships. It appears to serve the same purpose as certain signs that one sees and vacant lots in London

  Ambrose Bierce

  Rags, Troops, Purpose

  Ambrose Bierce (1973). “The Collected Writings of Ambrose Bierce”, Ayer Company Pub

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• PERIPATETIC, adj. Walking about. Relating to the philosophy of Aristotle, who, while expounding it, moved from place to place in order to avoid his pupil's objections. A needless precaution - they knew no more of the matter than he.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Philosophy, Order, Matter

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

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• Gout, a physician's name for the rheumatism of a rich patient

  Ambrose Bierce

  Names, Physicians, Gout

  The Devil's Dictionary

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