Backbite. To ''speak of a man as you find him'' when he can't find you.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Slander]

Success is the one unpardonable sin against one's fellows.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Success]

Take not God's name in vain; select a time when it will have effect.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Swearing]

Think twice before you speak to a friend in need.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Thoughts and Thinking]

Appeal. In law, to put the dice into the box for another throw.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Trials]

Trial. A formal inquiry designed to prove and put upon record the blameless characters of judges, advocates and jurors.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Trials]

Truth -- An ingenious compound of desirability and appearance.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Truth]

They say that hens do cackle loudest when there is nothing vital in the eggs they have laid.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Vanity]

Patience. A minor form of despair disguised as a virtue.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Patience]

Patriotism. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Patriotism]

Peace, in international affairs, is a period of cheating between two periods of fighting.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Peace]

A lowly virtue whereby mediocrity achieves a glorious success.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Perseverance]

Philanthropist. A rich (and usually bald) old gentleman who has trained himself to grin while his conscience is picking his pocket.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Philanthropists]

A route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Philosophers and Philosophy]

All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusion is called a philosopher.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Philosophers and Philosophy]

Physician -- One upon whom we set our hopes when ill and our dogs when well.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Physicians]

To bother about the best method of accomplishing an accidental result.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Planning]

Politeness -- The most acceptable hypocrisy.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Politeness]

What is a democrat? One who believes that the republicans have ruined the country. What is a republican? One who believes that the democrats would ruin the country.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Politicians and Politics]

Admiration; is our polite recognition of another's resemblance to ourselves.
~ Ambrose Bierce - [Praise]