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.
Philosophers should consider the fact that the greatest happiness principle can easily be made an excuse for a benevolent dictatorship. We should replace it by a more modest and more realistic principle - the principle that the fight against avoidable misery should be a recognized aim of public policy, while the increase of happiness should be left, in the main, to private initiative.
A man's life of any worth is a continual allegory, and very few eyes can see the mystery of his life, a life like the scriptures, figurative.
I am as bad as the worst, but, thank God, I am as good as the best.
There is no Final Resting Place of the Mind.
One thing you can't hide - is when you're crippled inside.
It is a great advantage for a system of philosophy to be substantially true.
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