POVERTY, n. A file provided for the teeth of the rats of reform. Its victims are distinguished by possession of all the virtues and by their faith in leaders seeking to conduct them into a prosperity where they believe these to be unknown.
Interpretation
This quote critiques the misguided faith of those in poverty who look to reformers for salvation while highlighting the irony of their virtues.
Ambrose Bierce's quote provides a satirical view of how poverty is perceived and addressed in society. It suggests that the impoverished are often virtuous and hold faith in leaders who promise change and prosperity, yet the quote implies that these leaders may not be genuinely interested in the well-being of the poor. Instead, it positions poverty as something that is manipulated by those in power, suggesting a cycle of exploitation and false hope rather than true reform.
In practice
In a speech addressing social issues, one might use this quote to emphasize the disillusionment experienced by the impoverished.
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.
You can only explain America's gun violence problem through guns, because mental illness doesn't automatically lead to violence, and it doesn't lead to violence anywhere else but America.
There is no doubt that we cannot do without variable quantities in the sense of the potential infinite. But from this very fact the necessity of the actual infinite can be demonstrated.
Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.
All extremes of feeling are allied to madness.
It is the pull of opposite poles that stretches souls. And only stretched souls make music.
Many things are mechanical and should remain mechanical. But mechanical thoughts, mechanical feelings—that is what has to be studied and can and should be changed. Mechanical thinking is not worth a penny. You can think about many things mechanically, but you will get nothing from it.
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