IMPENITENCE, n. A state of mind intermediate in point of time between sin and punishment.
Ambrose BierceCynicism is that blackguard defect of vision which compels us to see the world as it is, instead of as it should be.
Ambrose BierceREPUBLIC, n. A nation in which, the thing governing and the thing governed being the same, there is only a permitted authority to enforce an optional obedience.
Ambrose BierceLegitimate authority to be, to do or to have; as the right to be a king, the right to do one's neighbor, the right to have measles, and the like.
Ambrose BierceMad; adj. Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence; not conforming to standards of thought, speech, and action derived by the conformants from study of themselves; at odds with the majority; in short, unusual. It is noteworthy that persons are pronounced mad by officials destitute of evidence that they themselves are sane.
Ambrose Bierce