Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Gwinnett Biercewas an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist. He wrote the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and compiled a satirical lexicon, The Devil's Dictionary. His vehemence as a critic, his motto "Nothing matters", and the sardonic view of human nature that informed his work, all earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth24 June 1842
CityMeighs County, OH
CountryUnited States of America
RASCALITY, n. Stupidity militant. The activity of a clouded intellect.
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.
NON-COMBATANT, n. A dead Quaker.
HATRED, n. A sentiment appropriate to the occasion of another's superiority.
Salamander: Originally a reptile inhabiting fire; later, an anthropomorphous immortal, but still a pyrophile. Salamanders are now believed to be extinct, the last one of which we have an account having been seen in Carcassonne by the Abbe Belloc, who exorcised it with a bucket of holy water.
Slang is the speech of him who robs the literary garbage carts on their way to the dumps.
Think twice before you speak to a friend in need
ARMOR, n. The kind of clothing worn by a man whose tailor is a blacksmith.
TRUTHFUL, adj. Dumb and illiterate.
Peace in international affairs: a period of cheating between periods of fighting
San Francisco is the place where most people were last seen
Good-bye -- if you hear of my being stood up against a stone wall and shot to rags please know that I think that a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease or falling down the cellar stairs.
In forgiving an injury be somewhat ceremonious, lest your magnanimity be construed as indifference.
PUSH, n. One of the two things mainly conducive to success, especially in politics. The other is Pull.