Future. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is assured.
Interpretation
The future is often idealized as a time of success and happiness.
This quote by Ambrose Bierce reflects a common perception of the future as a time when everything aligns perfectly β our endeavors flourish, our relationships are genuine, and we find contentment. It highlights the human tendency to hope and project optimism onto what is yet to come, suggesting that people often envision the future as a resolution to present struggles.
In practice
In a motivational speech about embracing change, one could use this quote to inspire hope for the future.
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.
When you stand up in the morning, you look in the mirror and say, 'I'm black.' No. You wake up and you see yourself as a human being in the world, but you raise discussion and raise aggression, the anger that you confront every day of your life, whether you want to or not.
Men are more compassionate/(nobler)/magnanimous/generous than God; for men forgive their dead, but God does not.
This overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute is the great mystic achievement. In mystic states we both become one with the Absolute and we become aware of our oneness. This is the everlasting and triumphant mystical tradition, hardly altered by differences of clime or creed.
The true opponent in a debate on emptiness is your own ego.
We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come.
It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.
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