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PESSIMISM- philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile.

Ambrose Bierce

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Ambrose Bierce
Born: 1842
Born: June 24
Aphorist
Journalist
Poet
Science Fiction Writer
Writer
Meigs County
Ohio
Dod Grile
William Herman
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce
Ambrose Bierce
Smile
Disheartening
Philosophy
Observer
Upon
Convictions
Hope
Pessimism
Observers
Optimist
Unsightly
Forced
Prevalence
Conviction
Scarecrow

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The liberality of one who has much, in permitting one who has nothing to get all that he can.
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TRUCE, n. Friendship.
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MAGNITUDE, n. Size [that is] purely relative. If everything in the universe were increased 1,000 diameters nothing would be any larger than it was before, but if one thing remain unchanged all the others would be larger than they had been.
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Male, A member of the unconsidered or negligible gender. The male of the human race is commonly known to the female as Mere Man. The Genus has two varieties: good providers and bad providers.
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An aged Burgundy runs with a beardless Port. I cherish the fancy that Port speaks sentences of wisdom, Burgundy sings the inspired Ode.
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War: A by-product of the arts of peace.
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MEDICINE, n. A stone flung down the Bowery to kill a dog in Broadway.
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MONAD, n. The ultimate, indivisible unit of matter (see Molecule). The monad has body without bulk, and mind without manifestation - containing all the powers and possibilities needful to his evolution into a German philosopher . .
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CEMETERY, n. An isolated suburban spot where mourners match lies, poets write at a target and stone-cutters spell for a wager.
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OYSTER, n. A slimy, gobby shellfish which civilization gives men the hardihood to eat without removing its entrails! The shells are sometimes given to the poor.
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ULTIMATUM, n. In diplomacy, a last demand before resorting to concessions.
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WAR, n. A by-product of the arts of peace. The most menacing political condition is a period of international amity.
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LEAD, n. A heavy blue-gray metal much used ... as a counterpoise to an argument of such weight that it turns the scale of debate the wrong way. An interesting fact in the chemistry of international controversy is that at the point of contact of two patriotisms lead is precipitated in great quantities.
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MERCY, n. An attribute beloved of detected offenders.
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Behavior, n. Conduct, as determined, not by principle, but by breeding.
Ambrose Bierce
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HOSPITALITY, n. The virtue which induces us to feed and lodge certain persons who are not in need of food and lodging.
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Barometer, n.: An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having.
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DISOBEDIENCE, n. The silver lining to the cloud of servitude.
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A hollow edifice erected for the habitation of man, rat, mouse, beetle, cockroach, fly, mosquito, flea, bacillus, and microbe.
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FICKLENESS, n. The iterated satiety of an enterprising affection.
Ambrose Bierce