ARISTOCRACY, n. Government by the best men. (In this sense the word is obsolete; so is that kind of government.) Fellows that wear downy hats and clean shirts --guilty of education and suspected of bank accounts.

Quote by Ambrose Bierce

Topics: Government Quotes

A man is known by the company he organizes.

A man is known by the company he organizes.

Backbite. To speak of a man as you find him when he can't find you.

Backbite. To speak of a man as you find him when he can't find you.

Incompatibility: In matrimony, a similarity of tastes, particularly the taste for domination.

Incompatibility: In matrimony, a similarity of tastes, particularly the taste for domination.

Success is the one unpardonable sin against our fellows.

Success is the one unpardonable sin against our fellows.

Advice is the smallest current coin.

Advice is the smallest current coin.

Architect. One who drafts a plan of your house, and plans a draft of your...

Architect. One who drafts a plan of your house, and plans a draft of your...

Mayonnaise: One of the sauces which serve the French in place of a state religion.

Mayonnaise: One of the sauces which serve the French in place of a state religion.

ARENA, n. In politics, an imaginary rat-pit in which the statesman wrestles with his record.

ARENA, n. In politics, an imaginary rat-pit in which the statesman wrestles with his record.

Tariff: a scale of taxes on imports, designed to protect the domestic producer against the...

Tariff: a scale of taxes on imports, designed to protect the domestic producer against the...

Calamities are of two kinds: misfortunes to ourselves, and good fortune to others.

Calamities are of two kinds: misfortunes to ourselves, and good fortune to others.

Impiety, n.: Your irreverence toward my deity.

Impiety, n.: Your irreverence toward my deity.

Bigot: One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not...

Bigot: One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not...

Incompatibility. In matrimony a similarity of tastes, particularly the taste for domination.

Incompatibility. In matrimony a similarity of tastes, particularly the taste for domination.

Patriotism is as fierce as a fever, pitiless as the grave, blind as a stone,...

Patriotism is as fierce as a fever, pitiless as the grave, blind as a stone,...

ACQUAINTANCE, n. A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well...

ACQUAINTANCE, n. A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well...

To be positive is to be mistaken at the top of one's voice.

To be positive is to be mistaken at the top of one's voice.

Future. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and...

Future. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and...

Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of...

Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of...

What is objectionable, what is dangerous, about extremists is not that they are extreme, but...

What is objectionable, what is dangerous, about extremists is not that they are extreme, but...

They were so strong in their beliefs that there came a time when it hardly...

They were so strong in their beliefs that there came a time when it hardly...

I believe deeply that we must find, all of us together, a new spirituality.

I believe deeply that we must find, all of us together, a new spirituality.