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Description edit
Adapted and illustrated by Gahan Wilson, The Devil's Dictionary is a hilarious satire from one of the most brilliant and incisive writers of all time--Ambrose Bierce. Gahan Wilson's work appears regularly in The New Yorker and Playboy; he illustrated the Classics Illustrated version of Poe's... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Quotes edit
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“A bore is a person who talks when you want him to listen.”
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“Achievement is the death of endeavor and the birth of disgust.”
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“Admiration: our polite recognition of another's resemblance to ourselves.”
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“ALLIANCE, n. In international politics, the union of two thieves with hands so deeply inserted in each others pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third.”
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“Alone, adj. In bad company.”
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“An acquaintance is a person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to.”
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“DAWN, n. The time when men of reason go to bed. Certain old men prefer to rise at about that time, taking a cold bath and a long walk with an empty stomach, and otherwise mortifying the flesh. They then point with pride to these practices as the cause of their sturdy health and ripe years; the truth being that they are hearty and old, not because of their habits, but in spite of them. The reason we find only robust persons doing this thing is that it has killed all the others who have tried it.”
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“Emotion, n. A prostrating disease caused by a determination of the heart to the head. It is sometimes accompanied by a copius discharge of hydrated chloride of sodium from the eyes.”
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“Friendship, n. A ship big enough to carry two in fair weather, but only one in foul.”
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“Kill, v.t. To create a vacancy without nominating a successor.”
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“Mad: affected with a high degree of intellectual independence.”
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“Opiate, n. An unlocked door in the prison of Identity. It leads into the jail yard.”
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“Philosophy, n. A route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing.”
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“Understanding, n. A cerebral secretion that enables one having it to know a house from a horse by the roof on the house. Its nature and laws have been exhaustively expounded by Locke, who rode a house, and Kant, who lived in a horse.”
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“Year, n. A period of three hundred and sixty-five disappointments.”
Setting & Locations edit
Show all 12 settingsFirst Sentence edit
ABASEMENT, n. A decent and customary mental attitude in the presence of wealth or power.
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Penguin Modern Classics. (edition-based publisher list)
This book is in Folio Society. (edition-based publisher list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Ambrose Bierce (Author)
Other Contributors:
- J. N. Williamson (Author)
- S. T. Joshi
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Neale Publishing Co.
Country: USA
Publication Date: 1911
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 376
Publisher: Neale Publishing Co.
Country: USA
Publication Date: 1911
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 376
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PS1097 .D4 1911
- Dewey: 423.0207
Subjects edit
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