Debt, n. An ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slavedriver.
Interpretation
Debt represents a form of control over individuals, akin to slavery.
Ambrose Bierce's quote suggests that debt is a tool of oppression that binds individuals much like the physical restraints used by a slavedriver. It highlights how financial entanglements can lead to a loss of personal freedom, drawing a direct parallel between economic obligations and the harsh realities of slavery.
In practice
In a speech about financial literacy, one might reference this quote to emphasize the importance of avoiding debt.
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.
In the century now dawning, spirituality, visionary consciousness, and the ability to build and mend human relationships will be more important for the fate and safety of this nation than our capacity to forcefully subdue an enemy. Creating the world we want is a much more subtle but more powerful mode of operation than destroying the one we don't want.
All rulers in all ages have tried to impose a false view of the world upon their followers.
My hypothesis is that for people who are both trained and inclined to think in rigorously logical ways, it is particularly difficult to adapt to the Soviet system of doublethink.
No sane man can afford to dispense with debilitating pleasures. No ascetic can be considered reliably sane.
Church practice has been more influenced by Plato than by Jesus. We invariably prefer the universal synthesis, the answer that settles all the dust and resolves every question even when it is not entirely true over the mercy and grace of God.
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too _x000D_ I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.
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