IDLENESS, n. A model farm where the devil experiments with seeds of new sins and promotes the growth of staple vices.
Interpretation
Idleness is portrayed as a breeding ground for sin and negative behavior.
This quote by Ambrose Bierce suggests that idleness is not merely a lack of activity, but rather a fertile ground where harmful behaviors and vices can thrive. By comparing idleness to a farm where new sins are cultivated, Bierce emphasizes the dangers of inactivity and the potential for moral decay that can arise when individuals are not engaged in productive pursuits.
In practice
During a speech on the importance of self-discipline.
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.
Why does man not see things? He is himself standing in the way: he conceals things.
If every event which occurred could be given a name, there would be no need for stories.
I can't think of a more wonderful thanksgiving for the life I've had than that everyone should be jolly at my funeral.
I preach there are all kinds of truth, your truth and somebody else's. But behind all of them there is only one truth and that is that there's no truth.
The true test of one's commitment to liberty and private property rights doesn't come when we permit people to be free to do those voluntary things with which we agree. The true test comes when we permit people to be free to do those voluntary things with which we disagree.
There was something awesome in the thought of the solitary mortal standing by the open window and summoning in from the gloom outside the spirits of the nether world.
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