#si

Amnesty, n. The state's magnanimity to those offenders whom it would be too expensive to punish. ↗

— Ambrose Bierce

#expensive #magnanimity #offenders #punish #state

Deliberation, n.: The act of examining one's bread to determine which side it is buttered on. ↗

— Ambrose Bierce

#bread #buttered #deliberation #determine #examining

Now, of course, the great thing about the solar system as a frontier is that there are no Indians, so you can have all the glory of the myth of the American westward expansion without any of the guilt. ↗

— Sarah Zettel

#american #any #course #expansion #frontier

Liberty: One of Imagination's most precious possessions. ↗

— Ambrose Bierce

#liberty #most #possessions #precious

Prescription: A physician's guess at what will best prolong the situation with least harm to the patient. ↗

— Ambrose Bierce

#guess #harm #least #patient #physician

Childhood: the period of human life intermediate between the idiocy of infancy and the folly of youth - two removes from the sin of manhood and three from the remorse of age. ↗

— Ambrose Bierce

#between #childhood #folly #human #human life

Duty - that which sternly impels us in the direction of profit, along the line of desire. ↗

— Ambrose Bierce

#desire #direction #duty #impels #line

Genius - to know without having learned; to draw just conclusions from unknown premises; to discern the soul of things. ↗

— Ambrose Bierce

#discern #draw #genius #having #just

Ability is commonly found to consist mainly in a high degree of solemnity. ↗

— Ambrose Bierce

#commonly #consist #degree #found #high

Convent - a place of retirement for women who wish for leisure to meditate upon the sin of idleness. ↗

— Ambrose Bierce

#idleness #leisure #meditate #place #retirement