Insurrection. An unsuccessful revolution; disaffection's failure to substitute misrule for bad government.
Interpretation
The quote implies that uprising without effective change results in continued discontent.
Ambrose Bierce defines insurrection as not merely an attempt to overthrow a government but highlights its failure in achieving true reform. The quote stresses that when a rebellion does not lead to substantial change, it merely perpetuates the cycle of dissatisfaction, suggesting that simply resisting bad governance is insufficient if it does not create a better system in its place.
In practice
In a discussion on political movements, one might say, 'As Bierce puts it, insurrection often results in a continuation of the status quo.'
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 time when oneβs spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the past seems a storm-swept desolation, life a vanity and a burden, and the future but a way to death. It is a time when one is filled with vague longings; when one dreams of flight to peaceful islands in the remote solitudes of the sea, or folds his hands and says, What is the use of struggling, and toiling and worrying any more? let us give it all up.
Under capitalism everybody is the architect of his own fortune.
In war, truth is the first casualty.
No battle is ever won ... victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools.
Feelings come, and feelings go, and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God, naught else is worth believing.
Human reason is like a drunken man on horseback; set it up on one side, and it tumbles over on the other
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