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Ambrose Bierce

1842 - 1914

Ambrose Bierce is best known for his short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1891), which stands out for its distinctive narrative style and unexpected ending. Another notable work is The Devil’s Dictionary (1906), a satirical collection of definitions that uses irony and humor to examine social beliefs and traditions. His collection Tales of Soldiers and Civilians is also widely recognized for its vivid portrayal of wartime experiences and the psychological effects of conflict.

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War is Gods way of teaching Americans geography

— Ambrose Bierce

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Ambrose Bierce

Future. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is assured.

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Ambrose Bierce

Knowledge is the small part of ignorance that we arrange and classify.

Arrangement Classification Humble Ignorance Knowledge Small

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Ambrose Bierce

History is an account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools.

Cynical Fake Fools History Important Rule

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Ambrose Bierce

Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.

Abstinence Choice Ironic Playful Pleasure

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Mad, adj. Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence.

Conformity Defiant Independence thought Wry

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Ambrose Bierce

They say that hens do cackle loudest when there is nothing vital in the eggs they have laid.

Animal Born Egg Loud Lying Mocking

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Ambrose Bierce

A wedding is a ceremony at which two persons undertake to become one, one undertakes to become nothing, and nothing undertakes to become supportable.

Cynical Marriage People Person Support

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Prescription: A physician’s guess at what will best prolong the situation with least harm to the patient.

Ironic Judgment Medicine Skeptical Uncertainty

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Ambrose Bierce

Mausoleum, n: the final and funniest folly of the rich.

Ironic Macabre mortality Vanity Wealth

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Ambrose Bierce

True, man does not know woman. But neither does woman.

Man Philosophy Skeptical True Woman

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Dawn: When men of reason go to bed.

Convention Dawn Humor Playful

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Ambrose Bierce

Eloquence, n. The art of orally persuading fools that white is the color that it appears to be. It includes the gift of making any color appear white.

Persuasion Rhetoric Skeptical Truth Wry

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Ambrose Bierce

Marriage, n: the state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress, and two slaves, making in all, two.

Marriage Power Relationships Sardonic

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The covers of this book are too far apart.

Book Distance Mocking

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Ambrose Bierce

The only distinction that democracies reward is a high degree of conformity.

Confirm Critical Degree Democracy Reward

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Patriotism. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name.

Cautionary Critical Manipulation Patriotism Power

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Ambrose Bierce

Laughter, n. An interior convulsion, producing a distortion of the features and accompanied by inarticulate noises. It is infectious and, though intermittent, incurable.

Amused Community Humor Laughter Playful

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Ambrose Bierce

Philosophy: A route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing.

Inquiry Ironic Philosophy Reason Skeptical

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What is a democrat? One who believes that the republicans have ruined the country. What is a republican? One who believes that the democrats would ruin the country.

Believe Country Democracy Oneself Ruin Sardonic

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Ambrose Bierce

Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another.

Accuracy Cautionary Ironic Language Quotations

About Ambrose Bierce

Notable Works

Ambrose Bierce was a brutally honest American journalist, Union Civil War veteran, and pioneer of realist fiction famed for his dark, macabre storytelling. Nicknamed "Bitter Bierce" for his devastating wit and deeply pessimistic worldview, his raw experiences in combat profoundly shaped his unsentimental writing style. In late 1913, at the age of 71, he traveled to Mexico to observe the ongoing revolution and vanished without a trace, cementing his life as one of American literature's greatest mysteries.

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