Quotation Search

To search for quotations, enter a phrase to search for in the quotation, a whole or partial author name, or both. Also specify the collections to search in below. See the Search Instructions for details.


Quotation:

   Author:
MM's Cynical Quotes LM's Motivational Quotes Classic Quotes
Cole's Quotables Poor Man's College Rand Lindsly's Quotes
Internet Collections The Devil's Dictionary Contributed Quotations

[About the Collections]

Results of search for Author: Ambrose Bierce - Page 7 of 100
Showing results 61 to 70 of 993 total quotations found.
<- Previous Page Pages: ... 4 5 6 7 8 9 10... Next Page ->

Results from The Devil's Dictionary (Ambrose Bierce):

ABORIGINIES, n. Persons of little worth found cumbering the soil of a newly discovered country. They soon cease to cumber; they fertilize.
[info][add][mail][note]
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
ABRACADABRA. By _Abracadabra_ we signify
An infinite number of things.
'Tis the answer to What? and How? and Why?
And Whence? and Whither? -- a word whereby
The Truth (with the comfort it brings)
Is open to all who grope in night,
Crying for Wisdom's holy light.

Whether the word is a verb or a noun
Is knowledge beyond my reach.
I only know that 'tis handed down.
From sage to sage,
From age to age --
An immortal part of speech!

Of an ancient man the tale is told
That he lived to be ten centuries old,
In a cave on a mountain side.
(True, he finally died.)
The fame of his wisdom filled the land,
For his head was bald, and you'll understand
His beard was long and white
And his eyes uncommonly bright.

Philosophers gathered from far and near
To sit at his feat and hear and hear,
Though he never was heard
To utter a word
But "_Abracadabra, abracadab_,
_Abracada, abracad_,
_Abraca, abrac, abra, ab!_"
'Twas all he had,
'Twas all they wanted to hear, and each
Made copious notes of the mystical speech,
Which they published next --
A trickle of text
In the meadow of commentary.
Mighty big books were these,
In a number, as leaves of trees;
In learning, remarkably -- very!

He's dead,
As I said,
And the books of the sages have perished,
But his wisdom is sacredly cherished.
In _Abracadabra_ it solemnly rings,
Like an ancient bell that forever swings.
O, I love to hear
That word make clear
Humanity's General Sense of Things.
Jamrach Holobom
[info][add][mail][note]
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
ABRIDGE, v.t. To shorten. When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for people to abridge their king, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. --Oliver Cromwell
[info][add][mail][note]
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
ABRUPT, adj. Sudden, without ceremony, like the arrival of a cannon- shot and the departure of the soldier whose interests are most affected by it. Dr. Samuel Johnson beautifully said of another author's ideas that they were "concatenated without abruption."
[info][add][mail][note]
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
ABSCOND, v.i. To "move in a mysterious way," commonly with the property of another. Spring beckons! All things to the call respond;
The trees are leaving and cashiers abscond.
Phela Orm
[info][add][mail][note]
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
ABSENT, adj. Peculiarly exposed to the tooth of detraction; vilifed; hopelessly in the wrong; superseded in the consideration and affection of another.

To men a man is but a mind. Who cares
What face he carries or what form he wears?
But woman's body is the woman. O,
Stay thou, my sweetheart, and do never go,
But heed the warning words the sage hath said:
A woman absent is a woman dead.
Jogo Tyree
[info][add][mail][note]
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
ABSOLUTE, adj. Independent, irresponsible. An absolute monarchy is one in which the sovereign does as he pleases so long as he pleases the assassins. Not many absolute monarchies are left, most of them having been replaced by limited monarchies, where the sovereign's power for evil (and for good) is greatly curtailed, and by republics, which are governed by chance.
[info][add][mail][note]
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
ABSTAINER, n. A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure. A total abstainer is one who abstains from everything but abstention, and especially from inactivity in the affairs of others. Said a man to a crapulent youth: "I thought
You a total abstainer, my son."
"So I am, so I am," said the scrapgrace caught --
"But not, sir, a bigoted one." G.J.
[info][add][mail][note]
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
ACADEME, n. An ancient school where morality and philosophy were taught.
[info][add][mail][note]
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
ACADEMY, n. [from ACADEME] A modern school where football is taught.
[info][add][mail][note]
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
<- Previous Page Pages: ... 4 5 6 7 8 9 10... Next Page ->
Results of search for Author: Ambrose Bierce - Page 7 of 100
Showing results 61 to 70 of 993 total quotations found.

Can't find what you're looking for? Try browsing our list of quotations by subject..