PARDON, v. To remit a penalty and restore to the life of crime. To add to the lure of crime the temptation of ingratitude.
Interpretation
Pardoning can sometimes reinforce negative behavior by removing consequences.
This quote by Ambrose Bierce satirically highlights the paradox of pardoning individuals who have committed crimes. It suggests that when someone is forgiven, rather than promoting rehabilitation, it may encourage further wrongdoing by implying that there are no real consequences for one's actions, thus adding an element of ingratitude to the act of crime itself.
In practice
In a discussion about justice and rehabilitation, you might say, 'As Bierce suggests, granting a pardon can sometimes enable further misconduct.'
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.
Kiss. n. A word invented by the poets as a rhyme for "bliss".
The Great Spirit Chief who rules above all will smile upon this land... and this time the Indian race is waiting and praying.
Making matters worse is people's natural inclination to be easy on themselves, judging themselves according to their good intentions-while holding others to a higher standard and judging them by their worst actions.
If I were a dictator, religion and state would be separate. I swear by my religion. I will die for it. But it is my personal affair. The state has nothing to do with it. The state would look after your secular welfare, health, communications, foreign relations, currency and so on, but not your or my religion. That is everybody's personal concern!
The world is always a democracy in times of flux, and the man with the best voice will win.
The past is a trail you leave behind, much like the wake of a speedboat. That is, it's a vanishing trail temporarily showing you where you were. The wake of a boat doesn't affect it's course-obviously it can't since it appears behind the boat. So consider this image when you exclaim that your past is the reason you aren't moving forward.
It is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law
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