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renown, n. A degree of distinction between notoriety and fame - a little more supportable than the one and a little more intolerable than the other. Sometimes it is conferred by an unfriendly and inconsiderate hand.

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
Fame
Conferred
Hand
Unfriendly
Hands
Renown
Littles
Notoriety
Little
Intolerable
Sometimes
Distinction
Degree
Supportable
Degrees
Inconsiderate

More quotes by Ambrose Bierce

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PLAGIARIZE, v. To take the thought or style of another writer whom one has never, never read.
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Happiness has not to all the same name: to Youth she is known as the Future Age knows her as the Dream.
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Mayonnaise: One of the sauces which serve the French in place of a state religion.
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Bride: A woman with a fine prospect of happiness behind her.
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RUIN, v. To destroy. Specifically, to destroy a maid's belief in the virtue of maids.
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ARENA, n. In politics, an imaginary rat-pit in which the statesman wrestles with his record.
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The best kind of onion soup is the simplest kind.
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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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STORY, n. A narrative, commonly untrue. The truth of the stories here following has, however, not been successfully impeached.
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ARSENIC, n. A kind of cosmetic greatly affected by the ladies, whom it greatly affects in turn.
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INTIMACY, n. A relation into which fools are providentially drawn for their mutual destruction.
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CLERGYMAN, n. A man who undertakes the management of our spiritual affairs as a method of better his temporal ones.
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REPENTANCE, n. The faithful attendant and follower of Punishment. It is usually manifest in a degree of reformation that is not inconsistent with continuity of sin.
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MONARCHICAL GOVERNMENT, n. Government.
Ambrose Bierce
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MOUTH, n. In man, the gateway to the soul in woman, the outlet of the heart.
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KISS, n. A word invented by the poets as a rhyme for bliss. It is supposed to signify, in a general way, some kind of rite or ceremony appertaining to a good understanding but the manner of its performance is unknown to this lexicographer.
Ambrose Bierce
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HUMORIST, n. A plague that would have softened down the hoar austerity of Pharaoh's heart and persuaded him to dismiss Israel with his best wishes, cat-quick.
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Money. A blessing that is of no advantage to us excepting when we part with it.
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Occident: The part of the world lying west (or east) of the Orient. It is largely inhabited by Christians, a powerful subtribe of the Hypocrites, whose principal industries are murder and cheating, which they are pleased to call war and commerce. These, also, are the principal industries of the Orient.
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INCOMPATIBILITY, n. In matrimony a similarity of tastes, particularly the taste for domination. Incompatibility may, however, consist of a meek-eyed matron living just around the corner. It has even been known to wear a moustache.
Ambrose Bierce