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
RUIN, v. To destroy. Specifically, to destroy a maid's belief in the virtue of maids.
PLATONIC, adj. Pertaining to the philosophy of Socrates. Platonic Love is a fool's name for the affection between a disability and a frost.
HOSPITALITY, n. The virtue which induces us to feed and lodge certain persons who are not in need of food and lodging.
PREFERENCE, n. A sentiment, or frame of mind, induced by the erroneous belief that one thing is better than another.
LOVE, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder.
Hope is desire and expectation rolled into one.
PROJECTILE, n. The final arbiter in international disputes. With the growth of prudence in military affairs the projectile came more and more into favor, and is now held in high esteem by the most courageous.
Wit - the salt with which the American humorist spoils his intellectual cookery by leaving it out.
Who never doubted, never half believed. Where doubt is, there truth is - it is her shadow.
Ambidextrous, adj.: Able to pick with equal skill a right-hand pocket or a left.
Witticism. A sharp and clever remark, usually quoted and seldom noted; what the Philistine is pleased to call a joke.
One engaged in a commercial pursuit. A commercial pursuit is one in which the thing pursued is a dollar.
Platitude: All that is mortal of a departed truth.
We submit to the majority because we have to. But we are not compelled to call our attitude of subjection a posture of respect.