USAGE, n. The First Person of the literary Trinity, the Second and Third being Custom and Conventionality. Imbued with a decent reverence for this Holy Triad an industrious writer may hope to produce books that will live as long as the fashion.
Interpretation
Usage is paramount in writing, akin to a triad of principles that governs language and literature.
In this quote, Ambrose Bierce suggests that the effective use of language is influenced by three key elements: usage itself, custom, and conventionality. Together, these form a literary Trinity that guides writers in crafting works that resonate with readers, suggesting that by adhering to these principles, a writer may create timeless literature that withstands trends and fashions.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of language in communication.
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.
The test of the life of a saint is not success, but faithfulness in human life as it actually is.
The only way into truth is through one's own annihilation; through dwelling a long time in a state of extreme and total humiliation.
We are not merely passive pawns of historical forces; nor are we victims of the past. We can shape and direct history.
There is no more great men; there is only great committees.
The schematicism by which our understanding deals with the phenomenal world ... is a skill so deeply hidden in the human soul that we shall hardly guess the secret trick that Nature here employs.
The law of nations is naturally founded on this principle, that different nations ought in time of peace to do one another all the good they can, and in time of war as little injury as possible, without prejudicing their real interests.
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