A rabbit's foot may bring good luck to you, but it brought none to the rabbit.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the irony of superstition and the often overlooked consequences of pursuing luck.
Ambrose Bierce's quote reflects on the nature of luck and superstition, illustrating the irony that while people might believe in lucky charms, such as a rabbit's foot, the true cost of these beliefs often falls upon the innocentβlike the rabbit itself. It serves as a commentary on how actions taken for personal gain can sometimes harm others, prompting us to reconsider the ethics behind our pursuit of fortune.
In practice
In a speech about ethical decision-making, one might use this quote to illustrate how personal gain can unintentionally harm others.
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.
One can enjoy a rainbow without necessarily forgetting the forces that made it.
You think that I am impoverishing myself withdrawing from men, but in my solitude I have woven for myself a silken web or chrysalis, and, nymph-like, shall ere long burst forth a more perfect creature, fitted for a higher society.
What I think I learned from working on 'Moonlight' is you see what happens when you persecute people. They fold into themselves.
Ladies. Gentlemen. You have eaten well. You've eaten Gotham's wealth. Its spirit. Your feast is nearly over. From this moment on...none of you are safe.
As one whose husband and mother-in-law have died the victims of murder and assassination, I stand firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty for those convicted of capital offenses. An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed of retaliation. Justice is never advanced in the taking of a human life. Morality is never upheld by a legalized murder.
Bodies do not produce sensations, but complexes of elements (complexes of sensations) make up bodies.
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