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
Absence blots people out. We really have no absent friends.
Patriotism. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name.
To be positive is to be mistaken at the top of one's voice.
Erudition - dust shaken out of a book into an empty skull.
Genius - to know without having learned; to draw just conclusions from unknown premises; to discern the soul of things.
Historian - a broad-gauge gossip.
Irreligion - the principal one of the great faiths of the world.
We submit to the majority because we have to. But we are not compelled to call our attitude of subjection a posture of respect.
Saint: A dead sinner revised and edited.
What is a democrat? One who believes that the republicans have ruined the country. What is a republican? One who believes that the democrats would ruin the country.
Cynic, n: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.
Doubt, indulged and cherished, is in danger of becoming denial; but if honest, and bent on thorough investigation, it may soon lead to full establishment of the truth.
Academe, n.: An ancient school where morality and philosophy were taught. Academy, n.: A modern school where football is taught.
An egotist is a person of low taste - more interested in himself than in me.