Civilization Quote by Ambrose Bierce

“Inventor: A person who makes an ingenious arrangement of wheels, levers and springs, and believes it civilization.”

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More by Ambrose Bierce

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…

Ambrose Bierce

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DECIDE, v.i. To succumb to the preponderance of one set of influences over another set.

Ambrose Bierce

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IMMORAL, adj. Inexpedient. Whatever in the long run and with regard to the greater number of instances men find to be generally inexpedient comes…

Ambrose Bierce

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REVIEW, v.t. To set your wisdom (holding not a doubt of it./ Although in truth there's neither bone nor skin to it)/ At work…

Ambrose Bierce

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CLOCK, n. A machine of great moral value to man, allaying his concern for the future by reminding him what a lot of time…

Ambrose Bierce

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RUBBISH, n. Worthless matter, such as the religions, philosophies, literatures, arts and sciences of the tribes infesting the regions lying due south from Boreaplas.

Ambrose Bierce

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There was never a genius who was not thought a fool until he disclosed himself; whereas he is a fool then only.

Ambrose Bierce

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

Ambrose Bierce

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WHANGDEPOOTENAWAH, n. In the Ojibwa tongue, disaster; an unexpected affliction that strikes hard.

Ambrose Bierce

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Jealous, adj. Unduly concerned about the preservation of that which can be lost only if not worth keeping.

Ambrose Bierce

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RIDICULE, n. Words designed to show that the person of whom they are uttered is devoid of the dignity of character distinguishing him who…

Ambrose Bierce

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Think twice before you speak to a friend in need

Ambrose Bierce

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What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…

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Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…

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Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.

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“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…

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We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…

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Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…

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Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…

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The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…

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Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…

Ralph Waldo Emerson