Tag Archives: humor

Ambrose Bierce on Philosophers

Posted on August 3, 2021 | Leave a comment

“All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher.”

Ambrose Bierce

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.

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Write It Right: Can for May

Posted on August 3, 2021 | Leave a comment

Can for May. “’Can I go fishing?’ He can call on me if he wishes to.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. Write it Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2010.

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The Devil’s Dictionary: Abundance

Posted on August 2, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Abundance, n. A means, under providence, of withholding alms from the destitute.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. David E. Schultz and S.J. Joshi, eds. The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2000. 

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Rotten Reviews: Three by Robert Coover

Posted on July 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

The Origin of the Brunists

‘…an explosion in a cesspool.’

Bruno McAndrew, Best Sellers

The Public Burning

‘…an overwritten bore…a protracted sneer.’

Paul Gray, Time

Gerald’s Party

‘The novel should develop a reader’s sensitivities, not deaden them with risible comic strip.’

New Statesman”

Excerpted from: Barnard, Andre, and Bill Henderson, eds. Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections. Wainscott, NY: Pushcart Press, 1998.    

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The Algonquin Wits: Robert Benchley on Mirrors

Posted on July 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

“On mirrors: ‘Things are depressing enough as they are, without my going out of my way to make myself miserable.’”

Robert Benchley

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

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Cuckold

Posted on July 27, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Cuckold: The husband of an adulterous wife. The name derives from cuckoo, the chief characteristic of this bird being to deposit its eggs in other birds’ nests. Dr. Johnson explained that ‘it was usual to alarm a husband at the approach of an adulterer by calling Cuckoo, which by mistake was applied in time to the person warned.’ The cuckold was traditionally supposed to wear horns as the attribute of his condition. The usage is ancient; the Romans used to call an adulterer a cuckoo.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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The Devil’s Dictionary: Absurdity

Posted on July 26, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Absurdity, n. [1.] A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one’s own opinion. [2.] The argument of an opponent. A belief in which one has not had the misfortune to be instructed.” 

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. David E. Schultz and S.J. Joshi, eds. The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2000. 

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Write It Right: Calculated for Likely

Posted on July 22, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Calculated for Likely. ‘The bad weather is calculated to produce sickness.’ Calculated implies calculation, design.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. Write it Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2010.

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Stephen Leacock on Statistics

Posted on July 22, 2021 | Leave a comment

“In ancient times they had not statistics so they had to fall back on lies.”

Stephen Leacock

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.

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Scott Adams on the Dilbert Principle

Posted on July 21, 2021 | Leave a comment

“The basic concept of the Dilbert principle is that the most ineffective workers are systematically moved where they can do the least damage: management.”

Scott Adams

Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

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