Cynicism is that blackguard defect of vision which compels us to see the world as it is instead of as it should be.

— Ambrose Bierce

Cynic, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are not as they ought to be.

— Ambrose Bierce

Day, n. A period of twenty-four hours, mostly misspent.

— Ambrose Bierce

Death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate.

— Ambrose Bierce

Deep sadness is an artist of powers that affects people in different ways. To one, it comes like the stroke of an arrow, shocking all the emotions to a sharper life. To another, it comes as the blow of a crushing strike.

— Ambrose Bierce

Destiny: A tyrant's authority for crime and a fool's excuse for failure.

— Ambrose Bierce

Destiny n: a tyrant's authority for crime and a fool's excuse for failure.

— Ambrose Bierce

Diplomacy, n.: The patriotic art of lying for one's country.

— Ambrose Bierce

DOG: A kind of additional or subsidiary Daily designed to catch the overflow or surplus of the world's worship.

— Ambrose Bierce

Doubt is the father of invention.

— Ambrose Bierce