Top Ambrose Bierce Quotes - Quotesmemo.com

Ambrose Bierce Biography

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – circa 1914) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and Civil War veteran.

Read about Ambrose Bierce in Wikipedia

Random Authors

Ambrose Bierce Quotes

PLATITUDE, n. The fundamental element and special glory of popular literature. A thought that snores in words that smoke. All that is mortal of a departed truth. A jelly-fish withering on the shore of the sea of thought. A desiccated epigram.

Departed, Fundamental, Sea, Snores, Truth

The speech of one who utters with his tongue what he thinks with his ear, and feels the pride of a creator in accomplishing the feat of a parrot. A means (under Providence) of setting up as a wit without a capital of sense.

Accomplishing, Capital, Mean, Pride, Providence, Thinking

PORTUGUESE, n. pl. A species of geese indigenous to Portugal. They are mostly without feathers and imperfectly edible, even when stuffed with garlic.

Cooking, Food, Garlic, Indigenous, Mostly, Portugal

TABLE D'HOTE, n. A caterer's thrifty concession to the universal passion for irresponsibility.

Cooking, Food, Irresponsibility, Passion, Thrifty, Universal

alone, adj. In bad company.

Adj, Bad, Bad Company, Company, Solitude

plagiarism, n. A literary coincidence compounded of a discreditable priority and an honorable subsequence.

Coincidence, Honorable, Plagiarism, Priorities, Priority

PALM, n. A species of tree. . . of which the familiar "itching palm" ("Palma hominis") is most widely distributed. . . . This noble vegetable exudes a kind of invisible gum, which may be detected by applying to the bark a piece of gold or silver.

Gold, Kind, Silver, Tree, Vegetable, Vegetables

EXISTENCE, n. A transient, horrible, fantastic dream,
Wherein is nothing yet all things do seem:
From which we're wakened by a friendly nudge
Of our bedfellow Death, and cry: "O fudge!"

Dream, Fantastic, Friendly, Fudge, Horrible, Nudge Nudge

Money. A blessing that is of no advantage to us excepting when we part with it.

Blessing, Excepting, Money, Part, Wealth

PRESBYTERIAN, n. One who holds the conviction that the government authorities of the Church should be called presbyters.

Government, Church, Conviction, Authorities, Presbyters

An appellate court which reverses the judgment of a popular author's contemporaries, the appellant being his obscure competitor.

Appellant, Contemporaries, Judgment, Obscure, Popularity, Reverses

In each human heart are a tiger, a pig, an ass and a nightingale. Diversity of character is due to their unequal activity.

Activity, Due, Funny, Heart, Integrity, Nightingale

Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance.

Advantages, Devil, Distance, Keep, Technology, Telephone

Battle, n. , A method of untying with the teeth a political knot that would not yield to the tongue.

Battle, Knot, Political, Yield

DUEL, n. A formal ceremony preliminary to reconciliation of two enemies. Great skill is necessary to its satisfactory observance; if awkwardly performed. . . deplorable consequences sometimes ensue. A long time ago a man lost his life.

Awkwardly, Ensue, Formal, Life, Men, Time

The partisan strife in which the people of the country are permitted to periodically engage does not tend to the development of ugly traits of character, but merely discloses those that preexist.

Character, Country, Engage, People, Tend

pleasure, n. The least hateful form of dejection.

Dejection, Form, Hateful, Pleasure

A subsidiary Deity designed to catch the overflow and surplus of the world's worship. . . . [H]is master works for the means wherewith to purchase the idle wag of the Solomonic tail, seasoned with a look of tolerant recognition.

Dog, Mean, Tails, Catch, Works, Overflow

Empty wine bottles have a bad opinion of women.

Bottles, Empty, Food, Wine, Women

Erudition - dust shaken out of a book into an empty skull.

Book, Dust, Empty, Erudition, Skulls

...

››

Ambrose Bierce Biography

Contact Us

About us