HAND, n. A singular instrument worn at the end of the human arm and commonly thrust into somebody's pocket.
Interpretation
This quote humorously defines a hand as a tool often used to take without permission.
Ambrose Bierce offers a satirical definition of a hand in his work 'The Devil's Dictionary'. By describing a hand as an 'instrument' that is 'thrust into somebody's pocket', he highlights human nature's tendency towards opportunism and theft, suggesting that hands are used more for taking than for giving or helping.
In practice
This quote could be used during a light-hearted discussion about human behavior and ethics.
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.
It is a very inconvenient habit of kittens (Alice had once made the remark) that whatever you say to them, they always purr.
A brown spotted lady-bug climbed the dizzy height of a grass blade, and Tom bent down close to it and said, "Lady-bug, lady-bug, fly away home, your house is on fire, your children's alone," and she took wing and went off to see about it -- which did not surprise the boy, for he knew of old that this insect was credulous about conflagrations, and he had practised upon its simplicity more than once.
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.
I still think of that guy I was without a wife or kids, and I still want to entertain that guy. The lonely guy, the frustrated guy, the guy with no money - this is the guy who needs to laugh.
Life is a terminal disease, and it is sexually transmitted.
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