Ambrose Bierce ( 10 of 103 )
The hardest tumble a man can make is to fall over his own bluff.
The hardest tumble a man can make is to fall over his own bluff.
OBSESSED, p.p. Vexed by an evil spirit, like the Gadarene swine and other critics. Obsession was once more common than read more
OBSESSED, p.p. Vexed by an evil spirit, like the Gadarene swine and other critics. Obsession was once more common than it is now. Arasthus tells of a peasant who was occupied by a different devil for every day in the week, and on Sundays by two. They were frequently seen, always walking in his shadow, when he had one, but were finally driven away by the village notary, a holy man; but they took the peasant with them, for he vanished utterly. A devil thrown out of a woman by the Archbishop of Rheims ran through the trees, pursued by a hundred persons, until the open country was reached, where by a leap higher than a church spire he escaped into a bird. A chaplain in Cromwell's army exorcised a soldier's obsessing devil by throwing the soldier into the water, when the devil came to the surface. The soldier, unfortunately, did not.
Tenacity is a certain quality of the human hand in its relation to the coin of the realm. It attains read more
Tenacity is a certain quality of the human hand in its relation to the coin of the realm. It attains its highest development in the hand of authority and is considered a serviceable equipment for a career in politics.
VALOR, n. A soldierly compound of vanity, duty and the gambler's hope.
VALOR, n. A soldierly compound of vanity, duty and the gambler's hope.
... the instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his read more
... the instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country.
HISTORY, n. An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers read more
HISTORY, n. An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools.
Tariff: a scale of taxes on imports, designed to protect the domestic producer against the greed of his consumer
Tariff: a scale of taxes on imports, designed to protect the domestic producer against the greed of his consumer
BOUNDARY, n. In political geography, an imaginary line between two nations, separating the imaginary rights of one from the imaginary read more
BOUNDARY, n. In political geography, an imaginary line between two nations, separating the imaginary rights of one from the imaginary rights of the other.
YANKEE, n. In Europe, an American. In the Northern States of our Union, a New Englander. In the Southern States read more
YANKEE, n. In Europe, an American. In the Northern States of our Union, a New Englander. In the Southern States the word is unknown. (See DAMYANK.)
ZOOLOGY, n. The science and history of the animal kingdom, including its king, the House Fly ("Musca maledicta"). The father read more
ZOOLOGY, n. The science and history of the animal kingdom, including its king, the House Fly ("Musca maledicta"). The father of Zoology was Aristotle, as is universally conceded, but the name of its mother has not come down to us.
