MATERIAL, adj. Having an actual existence, as distinguished from an imaginary one. Important.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the significance of tangible realities over mere thoughts or fantasies.
Ambrose Bierce's definition of 'material' highlights the importance of concrete existence in contrast to the abstract or imaginative. It suggests a focus on what is real and substantial, encouraging individuals to recognize and value the things that have actual presence and relevance in their lives, rather than getting lost in dreams or ideals that do not manifest in reality.
In practice
In a discussion about philosophical ideas, this quote can be used to emphasize the value of tangible outcomes over theoretical concepts.
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.
In reading, you sense the divine: the things that are larger and greater and more mysterious than yourself.
The world is not dialectical - it is sworn to extremes, not to equilibrium, sworn to radical antagonism, not to reconciliation or synthesis. This is also the principle of evil.
A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life.
For the record, feminism by definition is: 'The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.'
because it seemed too simple to accept that life was an act of faith.
He became another data point in the American experiment of self-government, an experiment statistically skewed from the outset, because it wasn't the people with sociable genes who fled the crowded Old World for the new continent; it was the people who didn't get along well with others.
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