Ambrose Bierce Quotes - Page 21

• 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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• ILLUSTRIOUS, adj. Suitably placed for the shafts of malice, envy and detraction.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Envy, Malice

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.117, University of Georgia Press

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• A miracle is an act or event out of the order of nature and unaccountable, as beating a normal hand of four kings and an ace with four aces and a king.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Nature, Kings, Hands

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.164, University of Georgia Press

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• SAUCE, n. The one infallible sign of civilization and enlightenment. A people with no sauces has one thousand vices; a people with one sauce has only nine hundred and ninety-nine. For every sauce invented and accepted a vice is renounced and forgiven.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Food, Ninety Nine, Civilization

  Ambrose Bierce (1958). “The Devil's Dictionary: A Selection of the Bitter Definitions of Ambrose Bierce”, p.163, Prabhat Prakashan

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• Advice: The suggestions you give someone else which you hope will work for your benefit.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Giving, Advice, Suggestions

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• NOTORIETY, n. The fame of one's competitor for public honors. The kind of renown most accessible and acceptable to mediocrity. A Jacob's-ladder leading to the vaudeville stage, with angels ascending and descending.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Leadership, Kindness, Angel

  Ambrose Bierce (2012). “The Devil's Dictionary”, p.85, Courier Corporation

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• Inexpedient: Not calculated to advance one's interests.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Nihilism, Interest

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.105, 谷月社

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• RUSSIAN, n. A person with a Caucasian body and a Mongolian soul. A Tartar Emetic.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Soul, Body, Caucasian

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.192, 谷月社

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• TAIL, n. The part of an animal's spine that has transcended its natural limitations to set up an independent existence in a world of its own.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Independent, Animal, Tails

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.217, 谷月社

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• Book - Learning : The dunce's derisive term for all knowledge that transcends his own impertinent ignorance.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Book, Ignorance, Knowledge

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• GRAVE, n. A place in which the dead are laid to await the coming of the medical student.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Science, Students, Medical

  The Devil's Dictionary

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• FIDDLE, n. An instrument to tickle human ears by friction of a horse's tail on the entrails of a cat.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Horse, Cat, Tails

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

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• CERBERUS, n. The watch-dog of Hades, whose duty it was to guard the entrance - against whom or what does not clearly appear; everybody, sooner or later, had to go there, and nobody wanted to carry off the entrance.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Dog, Doe, Watches

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

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• A rabbit's foot may bring good luck to you, but it brought none to the rabbit.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Good Luck, Feet, Rabbits

  Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.1210, Delphi Classics

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• PROVIDENTIAL, adj. Unexpectedly and conspicuously beneficial to the person so describing it.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Unexpected, Persons, Beneficial

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

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• MERCY, n. An attribute beloved of detected offenders.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Love, Mercy, Attributes

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.164, University of Georgia Press

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• GENEROUS, adj. Originally this word meant noble by birth and was rightly applied to a great multitude of persons. It now means noble by nature and is taking a bit of a rest.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Mean, Generosity, Noble

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.94, University of Georgia Press

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• BIRTH, n. The first and direst of all disasters. As to the nature of it there appears to be no uniformity. Castor and Pollux were born from the egg. Pallas came out of a skull. Galatea was once a block of stone. Peresilis, who wrote in the tenth century, avers that he grew up out of the ground where a priest had spilled holy water. It is known that Arimaxus was derived from a hole in the earth, made by a stroke of lightning. Leucomedon was the son of a cavern in Mount Etna, and I have myself seen a man come out of a wine cellar.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Block, Wine, Science

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.26, University of Georgia Press

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• PLATITUDE, n. The fundamental element and special glory of popular literature. A thought that snores in words that smoke. All that is mortal of a departed truth. A jelly-fish withering on the shore of the sea of thought. A desiccated epigram.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Truth, Sea, Departed

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.165, 谷月社

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• INJUSTICE, n. A burden which of all those that we load upon others and carry ourselves is lightest in the hands and heaviest upon the back.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Hands, Injustice, Burden

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.108, 谷月社

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• INDISCRETION, n. The guilt of woman.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Guilt

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.105, 谷月社

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• ACCUSE, v.t. To affirm another's guilt or unworth; most commonly as a justification of ourselves for having wronged him.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Guilt, Justification, Wronged

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.8, 谷月社

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• POCKET, n. The cradle of motive and the grave of conscience. In woman this organ is lacking; so she acts without motive, and her conscience, denied burial, remains ever alive, confessing the sins of others.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Pockets, Alive, Sin

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

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• PRICE, n. Value, plus a reasonable sum for the wear and tear of conscience in demanding it.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Tears, Plus, Reasonable

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.171, 谷月社

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• THEOSOPHY, n. An ancient faith having all the certitude of religion and all the mystery of science.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Religion, Mystery, Ancient

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.220, 谷月社

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