More from Ambrose Bierce

  1. Dawn, n. The time when men of reason go to bed. Certain old men prefer to rise at about that time, taking a cold bath and a long walk with …
  2. Education, n. That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.
  3. Cynic, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. Hence the custom among the Scythians of plucki…
  4. Egotist, n. A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me.
  5. Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility.
  6. Electricity, n. The cause of all natural phenomena not known to be caused by something else. It is the same thing as lightning, and its fam…
  7. Conservative, n. A statesman enamored of existing evils, as opposed to a Liberal, who wants to replace them with others.
  8. Erudition, n. Dust shaken out of a book into an empty skull.

All Ambrose Bierce quotes