According to the most trustworthy statistics the number of adult Dullards in the United States is but little short of thirty millions, including the statisticians.
Interpretation
This quote humorously critiques the lack of intelligence in society, particularly among those who interpret statistics.
Ambrose Bierce's quote highlights a concern about the prevalence of ignorance, suggesting that nearly thirty million adults in the United States exhibit a lack of critical thinking or awareness, and ironically includes the statisticians themselves among this group. By exaggerating the numbers, Bierce invites readers to reflect on the reliability of information and the competency of those who interpret it, prompting a discussion on the importance of education and informed perspectives in analyzing statistics.
In practice
In a debate about educational reform, one might use this quote to emphasize the need for improving critical thinking skills.
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.
It was the meanest moment of eternity.
It's always interesting about God because it's like all of the religions in the world say that they pray to the same God, and yet they ask that same one God to divide itself up and agree with this one and fight against that one.
The ultimate notion of right is that which tends to the universal good; and when one's acting in a certain manner has this tendency he has a right thus to act.
How individuals of the same species surpass each other in these sensations and in other bodily faculties is universally known, but there is a limit to them, and their power cannot extend to every distance or to every degree.
Coincidences are the scars of fate.
The true greatness of nations is in those qualities which constitute the greatness of the individual.
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