RICH, adj. Holding in trust and subject to an accounting the property of the indolent, the incompetent, the unthrifty, the envious and the luckless.
Interpretation
Wealth is a responsibility that often falls to those who do not possess it through merit.
This quote by Ambrose Bierce offers a satirical perspective on wealth, suggesting that the rich merely hold property on behalf of those who may lack the ability or luck to secure it themselves. It underscores a belief that wealth can often be a result of circumstance rather than intrinsic merit, highlighting the disparity between the fortunate and the less fortunate in society.
In practice
During a discussion on wealth inequality, one might quote Bierce to highlight the nature of wealth as a trust.
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.
Romance and novel paint beauty in colors more charming than nature, and describe a happiness that humans never taste. How deceptive and destructive are those pictures of consummate bliss!
Faced with the pain of freedom, man begs for his shackles.
Non-Christians seem to think that the Incarnation implies some particular merit or excellence in humanity. But of course it implies just the reverse: a particular demerit and depravity. No creature that deserved Redemption would need to be redeemed. They that are whole need not the physician. Christ died for men precisely because men are not worth dying for; to make them worth it.
Imagination is not something apart and hermetic, not a way of leaving reality behind; it is a way of engaging reality.
A country that relies on aid? Death is better than that. It stops you from achieving your potential, just as colonialism did.
It was needless, after this, to say that all was vanity and vexation of spirit; for it is impossible to derive happiness from the company of those whom we deprive of happiness.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.