ANTIPATHY, n. The sentiment inspired by one's friend's friend.
Interpretation
Antipathy refers to the dislike or hostility one feels towards a friend's acquaintance.
In this quote, Ambrose Bierce cleverly captures the irony of human relationships, where individuals can harbor negative feelings towards someone purely based on their association with a close friend. This highlights the complexities of social dynamics and how friendship can influence our perceptions and emotions towards others, often without direct personal experiences to justify such feelings.
In practice
In a discussion about social groups, this quote can illustrate the complexities of human emotions.
PALM, n. A species of tree . . . of which the familiar "itching palm" ("Palma hominis") is most widely distributed . . . . This noble vegetable exudes a kind of invisible gum, which may be detected by applying to the bark a piece of gold or silver.
Human nature is pretty well balanced; for every lacking virtue there is a rough substitute that will serve at a pinch--as cunning is the wisdom of the unwise, and ferocity the courage of the coward.
Indigestion: A disease which the patient and his friends frequently mistake for deep religious conviction and concern for the salvation of mankind. As the simple Red Man of the Western Wild put it, with, it must be confessed, a certain force: 'Plenty well, no pray; big belly ache, heap God.'
Disobey n:To celebrate with an appropriate ceremony the maturity of a command
NOUMENON, n. That which exists, as distinguished from that which merely seems to exist, the latter being a phenomenon. The noumenon is a bit difficult to locate; it can be apprehended only by a process of reasoning - which is a phenomenon.
PARDON, v. To remit a penalty and restore to the life of crime. To add to the lure of crime the temptation of ingratitude.
We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.
Two of man's basic needs are to love and to share. Both of these needs are satisfied in greater or lesser degree by friendship.
Today I know this: when it comes time to take stock, the most painful wound is that of broken friendships; and there is nothing more foolish than to sacrifice a friendship to politics.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
No birth certificate is issued when friendship is born. There is nothing tangible. There is just a feeling that your life is different and that your capacity to love and care has miraculously been enlarged without any effort on your part. It's like having a tiny apartment and somebody moves in with you. But instead of becoming cramped and crowded, the space expands, and you discover rooms you never knew you had until your friend moved in with you.
Unless you make allowances for your friends foibles, you betray your own.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.