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
Alligator: The crocodile of America, superior in every detail to the crocodile of the effete monarchies of the Old World.
AFFLICTION, n. An acclimatizing process preparing the soul for another and bitter world.
PIGMY, n. One of a tribe of very small men found by ancient travelers in many parts of the world, but by modern in Central Africa only. The Pigmies are so called to distinguish them from the bulkier Caucasians - who are Hogmies.
Irreligion - the principal one of the great faiths of the world.
Sabbath - a weekly festival having its origin in the fact that God made the world in six days and was arrested on the seventh.
REPRESENTATIVE, n. In national politics, a member of the Lower House in this world, and without discernible hope of promotion in the next.
A pessimist asked God for relief. Ah, you wish me to restore your hope and cheerfulness, said God. No, replied the petitioner, I wish you to create something that would justify them. The world is all created,said God, but you have overlooked something
The god of the world's leading religion.
Cynicism is that blackguard defect of vision which compels us to see the world as it is, instead of as it should be.
GEOGRAPHER, n. A chap who can tell you offhand the difference between the outside of the world and the inside.
ENOUGH, pro. All there is in the world if you like it.
DELUGE, n. A notable first experiment in baptism which washed away the sins (and sinners) of the world.
INADMISSIBLE- Not competent to be considered. Hearsay evidence is inadmissible ... but there is no religion in the world that has any other basis than hearsay evidence.
INCOMPOSSIBLE, adj. Unable to exist if something else exists. Two things are incompossible when the world of being has scope enough for one of them, but not enough for both - as Walt Whitman's poetry and God's mercy to man.