« All Great Quotes · Ambrose Bierce's Page
Great Quotes by Ambrose Bierce
- Anoint, v.: To grease a king or other great functionary already sufficiently slippery.
- Irreligion - the principal one of the great faiths of the world.
- Homicide, /n./ The slaying of one human by another. There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy, but it makes no great…
- PREDESTINATION, n. The doctrine that all things occur according to programme. . . . not be confused with that of foreordination. The difference is great…
- BRAIN, n. An apparatus with which we think that we think. That which distinguishes the man who is content to be something from the man…
- DUEL, n. A formal ceremony preliminary to reconciliation of two enemies. Great skill is necessary to its satisfactory observance; if awkwardly performed . . .…
- CLOCK, n. A machine of great moral value to man, allaying his concern for the future by reminding him what a lot of time remains…
- CUNNING, n. The faculty that distinguishes a weak animal or person from a strong one. It brings its possessor much mental satisfaction and great material…
- POTABLE, n. Suitable for drinking. Water is said to be potable; indeed, some declare it our natural beverage, although even they find it palatable only…
- GENEROUS, adj. Originally this word meant noble by birth and was rightly applied to a great multitude of persons. It now means noble by nature…
- MAJESTY, n. The state and title of a king. Regarded with a just contempt by the Most Eminent Grand Masters, Grand Chancellors, Great Incohonees and…
- PALACE, n. A fine and costly residence, particularly that of a great official. The residence of a high dignitary of the Christian Church is called…
- If you would be accounted great by your contemporaries, be not too much greater than they.
- LINEN, n. "A kind of cloth the making of which, when made of hemp, entails a great waste of hemp."
- CALLOUS, adj. Gifted with great fortitude to bear the evils afflicting another.
- MAGNETISM, n. Something acting upon a magnet. The two definitions immediately foregoing are condensed from the works of one thousand eminent scientists, who have illuminated…
- GOOSE, n. A bird that supplies quills for writing. These, by some occult process of nature, are penetrated and suffused with various degrees of the…
- LEAD, n. A heavy blue-gray metal much used ... as a counterpoise to an argument of such weight that it turns the scale of debate…
- RAILROAD, n. The chief of many mechanical devices enabling us to get away from where we are to where we are no better off. For…
- CALLOUS, adj. Gifted with great fortitude to bear the evils afflicting another. When Zeno was told that one of his enemies was no more he…
- K, n. A consonant; originally precisely that of our H, but altered to its present shape to commemorate the destruction of [one of two lofty…
- NOSE, n. The extreme outpost of the face. From the circumstance that great conquerors have great noses, Getius, whose writings antedate the age of humor,…
- ASS, n. A public singer with a good voice but no ear. In Virginia City, Nevada, he is called the Washoe Canary, in Dakota, the…
More Great Quotes
- Flattery and deceit are the darlings of great men, and so with these men spread the butter on thick, if you want… — Pietro Aretino
- Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind. — Aristotle
- There is no great genius without a mixture of madness. — Aristotle
- A great city is not to be confounded with a populous one. — Aristotle
- The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he… — Aristotle
- Films and television and even comic books are churning out vast quantities of fictional narratives, and the public continues to swallow them… — Paul Auster
- I don't miss anything ever. Because to me, missing something is like going backward a little bit. I don't miss being in… — Fred Armisen
- My brother David was a great athlete and I knew there was no way I could live up to that. — Billie Joe Armstrong
- Ironically, the first thing that appealed to me about Islam was its pluralism. The fact that the Koran praises all the great… — Karen Armstrong
- Jesus did not spend a great deal of time discoursing about the trinity or original sin or the incarnation, which have preoccupied… — Karen Armstrong
- Nobody needs to cry for me. I'm going to be great. — Lance Armstrong
- All in all, for someone who was immersed in, fascinated by, and dedicated to flight, I was disappointed by the wrinkle in… — Neil Armstrong