Dawn: When men of reason go to bed.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that rationality often diminishes during nighttime, possibly alluding to the irrational thoughts that can arise in the dark.
Ambrose Bierce's quote highlights the contrast between logic and the nighttime, implying that when the day ends, so does a man's reason. It reflects on the idea that darkness can lead to confusion or irrationality, as the rational thoughts we hold during daylight hours may dissipate when faced with the unknown and subconscious fears of night.
In practice
During a discussion about fear of the dark, one could use this quote to emphasize how nighttime can provoke irrational fears.
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.
I tell you the groans of the damned in hell are the deep bass of the universal anthem of praise that shall ascend to the throne of my God for ever and ever.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace; Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.
Evil is not any superhuman, but it is HUMAN.
There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it.
I am the angel of Reality, Seen for a moment standing in the door.
Have not prisons - which kill all will and force of character in man, which enclose within their walls more vices than are met with on any other spot of the globe - always been universities of crime?
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