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
Ambrose Bierce quotes about
repose, v.i. To cease from troubling.
PORTUGUESE, n.pl. A species of geese indigenous to Portugal. They are mostly without feathers and imperfectly edible, even when stuffed with garlic.
Work: a dangerous disorder affecting high public functionaries who want to go fishing.
Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another.
IMAGINATION, n. A warehouse of facts, with poet and liar in joint ownership.
Prescription: A physician's guess at what will best prolong the situation with least harm to the patient.
HIBERNATE, v. i. To pass the winter season in domestic seclusion. There have been many singular popular notions about the hibernation of various animals. Many believe that the bear hibernates during the whole winter and subsists by mechanically sucking its paws. It is admitted that it comes out of its retirement in the spring so lean that it has to try twice before it can cast a shadow.
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.
KISS, n. A word invented by the poets as a rhyme for "bliss." It is supposed to signify, in a general way, some kind of rite or ceremony appertaining to a good understanding; but the manner of its performance is unknown to this lexicographer.
NON-COMBATANT, n. A dead Quaker.
Peace in international affairs: a period of cheating between periods of fighting
VITUPERATION, n. Saite, as understood by dunces and all such as suffer from an impediment in their wit.
POETRY, n. A form of expression peculiar to the Land beyond the Magazines.
DELUGE, n. A notable first experiment in baptism which washed away the sins (and sinners) of the world.