The slightest acquaintance with history shows that powerful republics are the most warlike and unscrupulous of nations.
Interpretation
Powerful republics tend to engage in wars and display a lack of moral principles.
Ambrose Bierce's quote suggests that throughout history, nations with significant power, particularly republics, often exhibit a tendency towards militarism and a disregard for ethical considerations. This observation implies that the strengths of such nations can lead to aggressive behaviors and actions that prioritize power over accountability, hinting at the complex relationship between governance, authority, and morality in global affairs.
In practice
In a history class discussing the aggressive actions of powerful nations, this quote can be used to illustrate a pattern.
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.
William Wilberforce...w as a great man who impacted the Western world as few others have done. Blessed with brains, charm, influence and initiative, much wealth ... he put evangelism on Britain's map as a power for social change, first by overthrowing the slave trade almost single-handed and then by generating a stream of societies for doing good and reducing evil in public life... To forget such men is foolish.
When I read that the British army had landed thirty-two thousand troops - and I had realized, not very long before, that Philadelphia only had thirty thousand people in it - it practically lifted me out of my chair.
Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot... But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know, in 1605, he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
Black history is a series of missing chapters from British history. I'm trying to put those bits back in.
Watergate is an immensely complicated scandal with a cast of characters as varied as a Tolstoy novel.
Blood alone moves the wheels of history.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.