Ambrose Bierce Quotes - Page 32

• War: A by-product of the arts of peace.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Art, War, Products

  Ambrose Bierce (2012). “The Devil's Dictionary”, p.134, Courier Corporation

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

  Ambrose Bierce

  Tree, Fruit, Culture

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

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• 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.

  Ambrose Bierce

  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

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• Pertaining to a certain order of architecture, otherwise known as Normal American. Most of the public buildings of the United States are of the Ramshackle order, though some of our earlier architects preferred the Ironic. Recent additions to the White House in Washington are Theo-Doric, the ecclesiastic order of the Dorians. They are exceedingly fine and cost one hundred dollars a brick.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Order, White, House

  Ambrose Bierce (2012). “The Devil's Dictionary”, p.100, Courier Corporation

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

  Ambrose Bierce

  Disease, Poverty, Approval

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

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• To seek a justification for a decision already made.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Choices, Decision, Made

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.194, University of Georgia Press

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• RIGHTEOUSNESS, n. A sturdy virtue that was once found among the Pantidoodles inhabiting the lower part of the peninsula of Oque. Some feeble attempts were made by returned missionaries to introduce it into several European countries . .

  Ambrose Bierce

  Country, Virtue, Introducing

  Ambrose Bierce (2012). “The Devil's Dictionary”, p.108, Courier Corporation

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• New York is too strenuous for me; it gets on my nerves.

  Ambrose Bierce

  New York, Nerves

  Ambrose Bierce (1967). “Letters”

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• IDLENESS, n. A model farm where the devil experiments with seeds of new sins and promotes the growth of staple vices.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Growth, Devil, Vices

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.95, 谷月社

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• POLITICIAN, n. An eel in the fundamental mud upon which the superstructure of organized society is reared. When he wriggles, he mistakes the agitation of his tail for the trembling of the edifice.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Mistake, Eels, Agitation

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

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• Beauty, n: the power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Beauty, Husband, Power

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.24, University of Georgia Press

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• Truth is more deceptive than falsehood, for it is more frequently presented by those from whom we do not expect it, and so has against it a numerical presumption.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Truth, Deceptive, Presumption

  Ambrose Bierce (2015). “A Cynic Looks at Life”, p.39, Sheba Blake Publishing

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• PLATONIC, adj. Pertaining to the philosophy of Socrates. Platonic Love is a fool's name for the affection between a disability and a frost.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Love, Philosophy, Names

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

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• The furrier
  gets the skins of more foxes than asses.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Skins, Foxes, Ass

  Ambrose Bierce (2013). “The Devil's Dictionary: Complete & Unabridged”, p.49, Courier Corporation

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• I never said all Democrats were saloonkeepers. What I said was that all saloonkeepers are Democrats.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Funny, Humorous, Party

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• LEGACY, n. A gift from one who is legging it out of this vale of tears.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Tears, Legacy

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

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• Inventor: A person who makes an ingenious arrangement of wheels, levers and springs, and believes it civilization.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Spring, Believe, Science

  Ambrose Bierce (2009). “The Devil's Dictionary: Easyread Super Large 18pt Edition”, p.180, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• The world has suffered more from the ravages of ill-advised marriages than from virginity.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Marriage, World, Ill

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• The slightest acquaintance with history shows that powerful republics are the most warlike and unscrupulous of nations.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Peace, Powerful, War

  Ambrose Bierce (1912). “The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce ...: Antepenultimata”

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• Enthusiasm - a distemper of youth, curable by small doses of repentance in connection with outward applications of experience.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Reality, Connections, Enthusiasm

  Ambrose Bierce (2013). “The Devil's Dictionary: Complete & Unabridged”, p.68, Courier Corporation

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• Success is the one unpardonable sin against our fellows.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Success, Thought Provoking, Sin

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• Brain: an apparatus with which we think that we think. Mind, n. A mysterious form of matter secreted by the brain.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Thinking, Brain, Mind

  Cynic's Word Book (1906) p. 39

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• Funeral: a pageant whereby we attest our respect for the dead by enriching the undertaker, and strengthen our grief by an expenditure that deepens our groans and doubles our tears.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Death, Suicide, Grief

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.92, University of Georgia Press

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• MAMMON, n. The god of the world's leading religion. The chief temple is in the holy city of New York.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Leadership, New York, Cities

  Ambrose Bierce (2009). “The Devil's Dictionary: Easyread Super Large 18pt Edition”, p.221, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• 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.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Mean, Men, Expression

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