ZEUS /n./ The chief of Grecian gods, adored by the Romans as Jupiter and by the modern Americans as God, Gold, Mob and Dog.
Interpretation
This quote critiques how different societies personify and worship power in various forms.
Ambrose Bierce's quote humorously illustrates the concept of deification, revealing how humanity tends to elevate figures of power—be they gods or material possessions—into objects of veneration. By equating Zeus with concepts such as God, Gold, Mob, and Dog, Bierce highlights the absurdity and multiplicity of worship, suggesting that what we idolize may reflect broader societal values rather than divine truth.
In practice
In a discussion about modern idols and what society values most, this quote can be used to illustrate the point.
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.
Tis' better to live your own life imperfectly than to imitate someone else's perfectly.
People who have no weaknesses are terrible; there is no way of taking advantage of them.
Looking for God-or Heaven-by exploring space is like reading or seeing all Shakespeare's plays in the hope that you will find Shakespeare as one of the characters.
The rich are different from us.
God is not external to anyone, but is present with all things, though they are ignorant that He is so.
It is not man who is the enemy of the human species. It is the irrational; it is the spiritual when it is divorced from the material; from the lesson in one beating heart or one bleeding vein.
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