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
Hippogriff, n. An animal (now extinct) which was half horse and half griffin. The griffin was itself a compound creature, half lion and half eagle. The hippogriff was actually, therefore, only one-quarter eagle, which is two dollars and fifty cents in gold. The study of zoology is full of surprises.
Age - That period of life in which we compound for the vices that remain by reviling those we have no longer the vigor to commit.
Christian - One who follows the teachings of Christ insofar as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.
Conversation: A fair for the display of the minor mental commodities, each exhibitor being too intent upon the arrangement of his own wares to observe those of his neighbor.
Riot – A popular entertainment given to the military by innocent bystanders.
An absolute monarchy is one in which the sovereign does as he pleases so long as he pleases the assassins.
There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don't know.
Heathen, n. A benighted creature who has the folly to worship something that he can see and feel.
Litigant. A person about to give up his skin for the hope of retaining his bones.
Spring beckons! All things to the call respond; the trees are leaving and cashiers abscond.
I believe we shall come to care about people less and less. The more people one knows the easier it becomes to replace them. It's one of the curses of London.
Childhood: the period of human life intermediate between the idiocy of infancy and the folly of youth - two removes from the sin of manhood and three from the remorse of age.
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.
Consul - in American politics, a person who having failed to secure an office from the people is given one by the Administration on condition that he leave the country.