The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 08: Negligible Tales, On With the Dance, EpigramsBierce, Ambrose
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The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 08: Negligible Tales, On With the Dance, Epigrams
Bierce, Ambrose
American literature
Happiness has not to all the same name: to Youth she is known as the
Future; Age knows her as the Dream.
"Who art thou, there in the mire?"
"Intuition. I leaped all the way from where thou standest in fear on the
brink of the bog."
"A great feat, madam; accept the admiration of Reason, sometimes known
as Dry-foot."
In eradicating an evil, it makes a difference whether it is uprooted or
rooted up. The difference is in the reformer.
The Audible Sisterhood rightly affirms the equality of the sexes: no man
is so base but some woman is base enough to love him.
Having no eyes in the back of the head, we see ourselves on the verge of
the outlook. Only he who has accomplished the notable feat of turning
about knows himself the central figure in the universe.
Truth is so good a thing that falsehood can not afford to be without it.
If women did the writing of the world, instead of the talking, men would
be regarded as the superior sex in beauty, grace and goodness.
Love is a delightful day's journey. At the farther end kiss your
companion and say farewell.
Let him who would wish to duplicate his every experience prate of the
value of life.
The game of discontent has its rules, and he who disregards them cheats.
It is not permitted to you to wish to add another's advantages or
possessions to your own; you are permitted only to wish to be another.
The creator and arbiter of beauty is the heart; to the male rattlesnake
the female rattlesnake is the loveliest thing in nature.
Thought and emotion dwell apart. When the heart goes into the head there
is no dissension; only an eviction.
If you want to read a perfect book there is only one way: write it.
"Where goest thou, Ignorance?"
"To fortify the mind of a maiden against a peril."
"I am going thy way. My name is Knowledge."
"Scoundrel! Thou art the peril."
A prude is one who blushes modestly at the indelicacy of her thoughts
and virtuously flies from the temptation of her desires.
The man who is always taking you by the hand is the same who if you were
hungry would take you by the café.
When a certain sovereign wanted war he threw out a diplomatic
intimation; when ready, a diplomat.
If public opinion were determined by a throw of the dice, it would in
the long run be half the time right.
The gambling known as business looks with austere disfavor upon the
business known as gambling.
A virtuous widow is the most loyal of mortals; she is faithful to that
which is neither pleased nor profited by her fidelity.
Of one who was "foolish" the creators of our language said that he was
"fond." That we have not definitely reversed the meanings of the words
should be set down to the credit of our courtesy.
Rioting gains its end by the power of numbers. To a believer in the
wisdom and goodness of majorities it is not permitted to denounce a
successful mob.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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