Quotation Details

Quotation #11898 from The Devil's Dictionary (Ambrose Bierce):

ALTAR, n. The place whereupon the priest formerly raveled out the small intestine of the sacrificial victim for purposes of divination and cooked its flesh for the gods. The word is now seldom used, except with reference to the sacrifice of their liberty and peace by a male and a female tool.

They stood before the altar and supplied
The fire themselves in which their fat was fried.
In vain the sacrifice! -- no god will claim
An offering burnt with an unholy flame.
M.P. Nopput
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
US author & satirist (1842 - 1914)  

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