OBSTINATE, adj. Inaccessible to the truth as it is manifest in the splendor and stress of our advocacy.
Interpretation
Obstinacy refers to a refusal to accept truth despite evidence, often clouded by oneβs own beliefs.
This quote by Ambrose Bierce critiques stubbornness and the unwillingness to accept truths that contradict personal ideologies. It highlights how an obstinate mindset can blind individuals to realities, even when they are presented in a compelling manner, thereby potentially undermining genuine understanding and discourse.
In practice
In a debate setting, when discussing opposing views, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of open-mindedness.
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.
I was supposed to have a script, and had mislaid it. I was supposed to hear cues, and no longer did. I was meant to know the plot, but all I knew was what I saw: flash pictures in variable sequence, images with no 'meaning' beyond their temporary arrangement, not a movie but a cutting-room experience.
If the same punishment is prescribed for two crimes that injure society in different degrees, then men will face no stronger deterrent from committing the greater crime if they find it in their advantage to do so.
Yes. He is quite a good fellow - nobody's enemy but his own.
Time will discover everything to posterity; it is a babbler, and speaks even when no question is put.
I know that every time I list something that I am, I am potentially alienating a whole group of people. Publicists and managers will encourage you not to say what political party you belong to, what you eat, what you don't eat, who you sleep with and all that stuff.
Reason respects the differences, and imagination the similitudes of things.
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