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.'
Interpretation
This quote humorously critiques how people sometimes mistake physical discomfort for spiritual or existential concern.
Ambrose Bierce’s quote satirizes the tendency of individuals to confuse their bodily ailments with deep philosophical or religious convictions. By using the metaphor of indigestion and the humorous wisdom of a 'Red Man', Bierce highlights how people often interpret their discomfort as a moral or spiritual crisis, suggesting that sometimes what we perceive as serious may simply be a reflection of our physical state.
In practice
This quote could be used in a talk about the importance of distinguishing between physical discomfort and spiritual fulfillment.
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.
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.
Kiss. n. A word invented by the poets as a rhyme for "bliss".
The nightmare is you spend the rest of your life being funny at parties and then people say, 'Why didn't you do that when you were on television?'
Some minds are like soup in a poor restaurant—better left unstirred.
I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
If you have enough book space, I don't want to talk to you.
I know it’s not the right thing to say to a lady, miss, but you are sweating like a pig!" "My mother always said that horses sweat, men perspire, and ladies merely glow…" "Is that so? Well, miss, you are glowing like a pig!
I'm every bourgeois nightmare - a Cockney with intelligence and a million dollars.
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