PRIMATE, n. The head of a church

June 24, 2005 1:37 PM

POLITENESS, n. The most acceptable hypocrisy. On this day Ambrose Bierce was born in 1842 in Ohio. The author famous for The Devil's Dictionary was a Civil War vet who despite being wounded in the head moved to San Francisco where he began a successful career in journalism, writing cynical columns, fighting publisher William Randolph Hearst, and ultimately serving the first blow upon the railroad industry whose political muscle had grown obscene. A decade later, the family man whose wife was from one of the most well-to-do families in the City, dissapeared probably in Mexico never to be seen or heard from again.
posted by tsarfan (13 comments total)

While I am childishly predisposed to appreciate any link which leads me to an article entitled "The Affair at Coulter’s Notch", the rest of this is wonderful as well. I have long associated him only with overused pithy quotations, and long suspected there was much more to the man. This looks an excellent resource to discovering it, and I thank you for it.

I have also been learning more of the history of California of late, so this is quite timely. Holy crap, what a wild time! It's very much the history of America writ large. Or small, or something. Emperor Norton! The Octopus! The Ducks! Vigilantes and Secret Societies and Judges fighting duels! Zounds!
posted by freebird at 2:05 PM on June 24, 2005

Don't have time to check the link now, but I highly recommend tracking down "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" - a pretty phenomenal short story.
posted by TheRoach at 2:45 PM on June 24, 2005

His credo, from his newspaper column:

"Be as decent as you can. Don't believe without evidence. Treat things devine with marked respect- and don't have anything to do with them. Do not trust humanity without collateral security; it will play you some scurvy trick. Remember that it hurts no one to be treated as an enemy entitled to respect until he shall prove hismelf a friend worthy of affection. Cultivate a taste for distasteful truths. And finally, most important of all, endeavor to see things as they are, not as they ought to be."

There's a reason why he has limited appeal, but those who do like him, like him enormously.

Thanks for the post.
posted by IndigoJones at 5:23 PM on June 24, 2005

(self-link) Devil's Roadgeek Dictionary, with links to Dictionaries in other fields.
posted by kurumi at 5:27 PM on June 24, 2005

Sorry, divine.
posted by IndigoJones at 5:31 PM on June 24, 2005

ABORIGINIES, n.
Persons of little worth found cumbering the soil of a newly discovered country. They soon cease to cumber; they fertilize.
posted by Rubbstone at 5:33 PM on June 24, 2005

MAMMON, n.
The god of the world's leading religion. The chief temple is in the holy city of New York.

Truly timeless wisdom.
posted by boaz at 5:55 PM on June 24, 2005

Bierce: most quoted author proportional to his written work.
posted by kozad at 6:40 PM on June 24, 2005

I'm kinda shocked to find that the one I thought was my favorite wasn't in the DD at all: Diplomacy - the art of convincingly saying 'nice doggie' while reaching for a nearby rock.
posted by boaz at 6:51 PM on June 24, 2005

EULOGY n. Praise of a person who either has the advantages of wealth and power, or the consideration to be dead.

The mystery surrounding his death is interesting and fitting I suppose. His "going to Mexico" brings to mind (for me anyway) the good Doctor HST's leaving his mortal coil on his own terms.
Fascinating fellow. Great post tsarfan!
posted by peacay at 7:14 PM on June 24, 2005

I second "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge" it was a Twilight Zone episode in 1964.
Bierce's brilliance was his brevity, I think his civil war stuff is the best view we have into that time."...I had the singular experience, of killing my father." very dark, and rarely allows hope to appear at all in his work.
posted by hortense at 11:14 PM on June 24, 2005

Be as decent as you can. Don't believe without evidence. Treat things divine with marked respect—and don't have anything to do with them...

Words for MeFites to live by, if they could bring themselves to be as decent as Bierce, surely the Father of All Snarkers.
posted by languagehat at 6:15 AM on June 25, 2005

(Noted.)
posted by IndigoJones at 7:04 AM on June 25, 2005