I think love is the most unbelievable, and critical, thing in civilization. Everything else is very mechanical and predictable, but love, you can't catch it.
Interpretation
Love is a fundamental and unpredictable element of humanity, unlike predictable aspects of life.
In this quote, Ambrose Bierce expresses the idea that love is an extraordinary and essential force in civilization. He contrasts love's unpredictable nature with the mechanical and routine aspects of life, highlighting its significance and the difficulty of defining or capturing it in a tangible way.
In practice
Using this quote in a Valentine's Day speech to emphasize the importance of love.
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.
Well, my dear, take heart. Some day, I will kiss you and you will like it. But not now, so I beg you not to be too impatient.
Mr. Rochester, if ever I did a good deed in my life β if ever I thought a good thoughtβif ever I prayed a sincere and blameless prayer β if ever I wished a righteous wish β I am rewarded now. To be your wife is, for me, to be as happy as I can be on earth.
Love renders all of our plans and all of our hopes a gamble.
The one person who will never leave us, whom we will never lose, is ourself. Learning to love our female selves is where our search for love must begin.
The love that you withhold is the pain that you carry.
I love your daughter fondly, dearly, disinterestedly, devotedly. If ever there were love in the world, I love her.
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