« All Only Quotes · Ambrose Bierce's Page
Only Quotes by Ambrose Bierce
- Jealous, adj. Unduly concerned about the preservation of that which can be lost only if not worth keeping.
- Certain old men prefer to rise at dawn, taking a cold bath and a long walk with an empty stomach and otherwise mortifying the flesh.…
- Doubt begins only at the last frontiers of what is possible.
- A leech who, having penetrated the shell of a turtle only to find that the creature has long been dead, deems it expedient to form…
- WHEAT, n. A cereal from which a tolerably good whisky can be made; . . . also for bread. The French are said to eat…
- SAUCE, n. The one infallible sign of civilization and enlightenment. A people with no sauces has one thousand vices; a people with one sauce has…
- PRESIDENT, n. The leading figure in a small group of men of whom - and of whom only - it is positively known that immense…
- UBIQUITY, n. The gift or power of being in all places at one time, but not in all places at all times, which is omnipresence,…
- 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…
- PIGMY, n. One of a tribe of very small men found by ancient travelers in many parts of the world, but by modern in Central…
- NOUMENON, n. That which exists, as distinguished from that which merely seems to exist, the latter being a phenomenon. The noumenon is a bit difficult…
- REPUBLIC, n. A nation in which, the thing governing and the thing governed being the same, there is only a permitted authority to enforce an…
- LICKSPITTLE, n. A useful functionary, not infrequently found editing a newspaper . . . the lickspittle is only the blackmailer under another aspect, although the…
- For every man there is something in the vocabulary that would stick to him like a second skin. His enemies have only to find it.
- If you want to read a perfect book there is only one way: write it.
- 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…
- PROOF, n. Evidence having a shade more of plausibility than of unlikelihood. The testimony of two credible witnesses as opposed to that of only one.
- JESTER, n. An officer attached to the king's household to amuse the court by ludicrous actions and utterances . . . the king's own conduct…
- TECHNICALITY, n. In an English court a man named Home was tried for slander in having accused his neighbor of murder. His exact words were:…
- Hippogriff, n. An animal (now extinct) which was half horse and half griffin. The griffin was itself a compound creature, half lion and half eagle.…
- God alone knows the future, but only an historian can alter the past.
- Friendship: A ship big enough for two in fair weather, but only one in foul.
- Love: A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by the removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder. This disease,…
- 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…
- ELEGY, n. A composition in verse, in which, without employing any of the methods of humor, the writer aims to produce in the reader's mind…
More Only Quotes
- Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really… — Hannah Arendt
- Only the mob and the elite can be attracted by the momentum of totalitarianism itself. The masses have to be won by… — Hannah Arendt
- Poets are the only people to whom love is not only a crucial, but an indispensable experience, which entitles them to mistake… — Hannah Arendt
- Total loyalty is possible only when fidelity is emptied of all concrete content, from which changes of mind might naturally arise. — Hannah Arendt
- War has become a luxury that only small nations can afford. — Hannah Arendt
- Aside from a handful of guys boxing is missing the good trainers, that's why our sport is so in the air now… — Alexis Arguello
- Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those… — Aristotle
- Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular. — Aristotle
- I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law. — Aristotle
- Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit. — Aristotle
- Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life. — Aristotle
- It is just that we should be grateful, not only to those with whose views we may agree, but also to those… — Aristotle