Read books online
at our other site:
The Literature Page

Quotation Search

To search for quotations, enter a phrase to search for in the quotation, a whole or partial author name, or both. Also specify the collections to search in below. See the Search Instructions for details.

Results of search for Author: Ambrose Bierce - Page 16 of 100 Showing results 151 to 160 of 993 total quotations found.
<- Previous Page	Pages: ... 13 14 15 16 17 18 19...	Next Page ->

Results from The Devil's Dictionary (Ambrose Bierce):

BIGAMY, n. A mistake in taste for which the wisdom of the future will adjudge a punishment called trigamy.: Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
BILLINGSGATE, n. The invective of an opponent.: Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
BIRTH, n. The first and direst of all disasters. As to the nature of it there appears to be no uniformity. Castor and Pollux were born from the egg. Pallas came out of a skull. Galatea was once a block of stone. Peresilis, who wrote in the tenth century, avers that he grew up out of the ground where a priest had spilled holy water. It is known that Arimaxus was derived from a hole in the earth, made by a stroke of lightning. Leucomedon was the son of a cavern in Mount Aetna, and I have myself seen a man come out of a wine cellar.: Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
BLACKGUARD, n. A man whose qualities, prepared for display like a box of berries in a market -- the fine ones on top -- have been opened on the wrong side. An inverted gentleman.: Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
BLANK-VERSE, n. Unrhymed iambic pentameters -- the most difficult kind of English verse to write acceptably; a kind, therefore, much affected by those who cannot acceptably write any kind.: Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
BODY-SNATCHER, n. A robber of grave-worms. One who supplies the young physicians with that with which the old physicians have supplied the undertaker. The hyena. "One night," a doctor said, "last fall, I and my comrades, four in all, When visiting a graveyard stood Within the shadow of a wall. "While waiting for the moon to sink We saw a wild hyena slink About a new-made grave, and then Begin to excavate its brink! "Shocked by the horrid act, we made A sally from our ambuscade, And, falling on the unholy beast, Dispatched him with a pick and spade." Bettel K. Jhones: Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
BONDSMAN, n. A fool who, having property of his own, undertakes to become responsible for that entrusted to another to a third. Philippe of Orleans wishing to appoint one of his favorites, a dissolute nobleman, to a high office, asked him what security he would be able to give. "I need no bondsmen," he replied, "for I can give you my word of honor." "And pray what may be the value of that?" inquired the amused Regent. "Monsieur, it is worth its weight in gold.": Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
BOTANY, n. The science of vegetables -- those that are not good to eat, as well as those that are. It deals largely with their flowers, which are commonly badly designed, inartistic in color, and ill- smelling.: Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
BOTTLE-NOSED, adj. Having a nose created in the image of its maker.: Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
BOUNDARY, n. In political geography, an imaginary line between two nations, separating the imaginary rights of one from the imaginary rights of the other.: Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary

<- Previous Page	Pages: ... 13 14 15 16 17 18 19...	Next Page ->
Results of search for Author: Ambrose Bierce - Page 16 of 100 Showing results 151 to 160 of 993 total quotations found.

Can't find what you're looking for? Try browsing our list of quotations by subject..