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Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce Quotes

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Famous Ambrose Bierce Quotes

“LIVER, n. A large red organ thoughtfully provided by nature to be bilious with. The sentiments and emotions which every literary anatomist now knows to haunt the heart were anciently believed to infest the liver; and even Gascoygne, speaking of the emotional side of human nature, calls it "our hepaticall parte." It was at one time considered the seat of life; hence its name- liver, the thing we live with.”

KnowsHumansHeartScienceNamesSidesEmotionHuman NatureEmotionalHumourRedSeatsSentimentsOne TimeOrgansLiver
Book:The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
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“ZANY, n. 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. The zany was progenitor to the specialist in humor, as we to-day have the unhappiness to know him. In the zany we see an example of creation; in the humorist, of transmission. Another excellent specimen of the modern zany is the curate, who apes the rector, who apes the bishop, who apes the archbishop, who apes the devil.”

KnowsPlayCharacterModernExampleCreationSeriousDevilExcellentUnhappinessItalianClownApesBishopsIncompetenceSpecialistsHumoristsTransmission
Book:The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World
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“Curiosity, n. An objectionable quality of the female mind. The desire to know whether or not a woman is cursed with curiosity is one of the most active and insatiable passions of the masculine soul.”

KnowsMindSoulDesirePassionQualityFemaleCuriosityActiveMasculineCursedInsatiableFemale Mind
Book:Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs: The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, and Memoirs
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“Good-bye -- if you hear of my being stood up against a stone wall and shot to rags please know that I think that a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease or falling down the cellar stairs.”

IfsThinkingKnowsWayAgeFallWallPleaseDiseaseBeatsShotsStonesOld AgeThis LifeFalling DownStairsGood WayByeGood ByeRagsStood UpCellarsStone Walls
Book:A Much Misunderstood Man: Selected Letters of Ambrose Bierce
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