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
Ah, woe is his, with length of living cursed,
Who, nearing second childhood, had no first.
Behind, no glimmer, and before no ray--
A night at either end of his dark day.
A noble enthusiasm in praise of Woman is not incompatible with a
spirited zeal in defamation of women.
The money-getter who pleads his love of work has a lame defense, for
love of work at money-getting is a lower taste than love of money.
He who thinks that praise of mediocrity atones for disparagement of
genius is like one who should plead robbery in excuse of theft.
The most disagreeable form of masculine hypocrisy is that which finds
expression in pretended remorse for impossible gallantries.
Any one can say that which is new; any one that which is true. For that
which is both new and true we must go duly accredited to the gods and
await their pleasure.
The test of truth is Reason, not Faith; for to the court of Reason must
be submitted even the claims of Faith.
"Whither goest thou?" said the angel.
"I know not."
"And whence hast thou come?"
"I know not."
"But who art thou?"
"I know not."
"Then thou art Man. See that thou turn not back, but pass on to the
place whence thou hast come."
If Expediency and Righteousness are not father and son they are the most
harmonious brothers that ever were seen.
Train the head, and the heart will take care of itself; a rascal is one
who knows not how to think.
Do you to others as you would
That others do to you;
But see that you no service good
Would have from others that they could
Not rightly do.
Taunts are allowable in the case of an obstinate husband: balky horses
may best be made to go by having their ears bitten.
Adam probably regarded Eve as the woman of his choice, and exacted a
certain gratitude for the distinction of his preference.
A man is the sum of his ancestors; to reform him you must begin with a
dead ape and work downward through a million graves. He is like the
lower end of a suspended chain; you can sway him slightly to the right
or the left, but remove your hand and he falls into line with the other
links.
He who thinks with difficulty believes with alacrity. A fool is a
natural proselyte, but he must be caught young, for his convictions,
unlike those of the wise, harden with age.
These are the prerogatives of genius: To know without having learned; to
draw just conclusions from unknown premises; to discern the soul of
things.
Although one love a dozen times, yet will the latest love seem the
first. He who says he has loved twice has not loved once.
Men who expect universal peace through invention of destructive weapons
of war are no wiser than one who, noting the improvement of agricultural
implements, should prophesy an end to the tilling of the soil.
To parents only, death brings an inconsolable sorrow. When the young die
and the old live, nature's machinery is working with the friction that
we name grief.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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