1,237 Quotes by Ambrose Bierce

A popular character in old Italian plays, who imitated with ludicrous incompetence the "buffone", or clown, and was therefore the ape of an ape; for the clown himself imitated the serious characters of the play.

Happiness: an agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another.

PANDEMONIUM, n. Literally, the Place of All the Demons. Most of them have escaped into politics and finance, and the place is now used as a lecture hall by the Audible Reformer.

A trite popular saying, or proverb. (Figurative and colloquial.) So called because it makes its way into a wooden head. Following are examples of old saws fitted with new teeth.

Patience, n. A minor form of dispair, disguised as a virtue.

An appellate court which reverses the judgment of a popular author's contemporaries, the appellant being his obscure competitor.

Dentist: a prestidigitator who, putting metal into your mouth, pulls coin out of your pocket.

Vote: the instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country.

A popular vote to ascertain the will of the sovereign.