Good-bye -- if you hear of my being stood up against a stone wall and shot to rags please know that I think that a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease or falling down the cellar stairs.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a morbid acceptance of death as a preferable alternative to suffering through the decline of old age or illness.
In this quote, Ambrose Bierce humorously expresses his views on death, suggesting that facing a dramatic and sudden end is more desirable than experiencing the slow deterioration that comes with aging or illness. It highlights the human tendency to fear the process of dying rather than death itself, and presents a darkly comedic perspective that challenges traditional notions of a 'good death'.
In practice
In a eulogy, one might include this quote to reflect the person's humorous take on death.
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.
On a level plain, simple mounds look like hills; and the insipid flatness of our present bourgeoisie is to be measured by the altitude of its great intellects.
I used to think consciousness itself was a virtue, so I tried to keep it all in my head at the same time: past, future, etc.
None believes in his own death. In the unconscious everyone is convinced of his own immortality.
Death is not a foe, but an inevitable adventure.
When God issues a call to us, it is always a holy call. The vocation of dying is a sacred vocation. To understand that is one of the most important lessons a Christian can ever learn. When the summons comes, we can respond in many ways. We can become angry, bitter or terrified. But if we see it as a call from God and not a threat from Satan, we are far more prepared to cope with its difficulties.
She liked to imagine that when she passed the world looked after her, but she also knew how anonymous she was.
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