OBLIVION, n. The state or condition in which the wicked cease from struggling and the dreary are at rest. Fame's eternal dumping ground.
Interpretation
Oblivion refers to a state where both the wicked and the weary find peace in absence of struggle or recognition.
Ambrose Bierce's quote on oblivion articulates a stark and somewhat cynical view of death and anonymity. It suggests that oblivion is a realm where both the 'wicked' and the 'dreary' escape their struggles, highlighting the inevitability of death as a form of equalizing rest. Fame, in this context, is depicted not as a glorious legacy but rather as a transient state that eventually leads to the 'eternal dumping ground' of forgotten souls, questioning the value society places on recognition and legacy.
In practice
In a discussion about the nature of fame and mortality, you could use this quote to emphasize the temporary nature of both.
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.
The psychotic drowns in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight.
A screaming comes across the sky. It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now.
Peace visits not the guilty mind.
The basic test of freedom is perhaps less in what we are free to do than in what we are free not to do.
I'm hoping what all sentient beings hope ... that somehow I'm part of something larger than myself, in which I play a role, an actual role that is somehow intended and meaningful.
People who give will never be poor.
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