GUILLOTINE, n. A machine which makes a Frenchman shrug his shoulders with good reason.
Ambrose BiercePrescription: A physician's guess at what will best prolong the situation with least harm to the patient.
Ambrose BierceRoad, n. A strip of land along which one may pass from where it is too tiresome to be to where it is futile to go.
Ambrose BiercePRESBYTERIAN, n. One who holds the conviction that the government authorities of the Church should be called presbyters.
Ambrose BierceEFFECT, n. The second of two phenomena which always occur together in the same order. The first, called a Cause, is said to generate the other-which is no more sensible than it would be for one who has never seen a dog except in pursuit of a rabbit to declare the rabbit the cause of the dog.
Ambrose Bierce