According to the most trustworthy statistics the number of adult Dullards in the United States is but little short of thirty millions, including the statisticians.
Interpretation
This quote humorously critiques the lack of intelligence in society, particularly among those who interpret statistics.
Ambrose Bierce's quote highlights a concern about the prevalence of ignorance, suggesting that nearly thirty million adults in the United States exhibit a lack of critical thinking or awareness, and ironically includes the statisticians themselves among this group. By exaggerating the numbers, Bierce invites readers to reflect on the reliability of information and the competency of those who interpret it, prompting a discussion on the importance of education and informed perspectives in analyzing statistics.
In practice
In a debate about educational reform, one might use this quote to emphasize the need for improving critical thinking skills.
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.
A symbol always transcends the one who makes use of it and makes him say in reality more than he is aware of expressing.
It is racist, and it was racist when it was created. The Indian Act controls, or seeks to control, the lives of all indigenous people in a way that you and I would never accept.
Civilisation, the orderly world in which we live, is frail. We are skating on thin ice. There is a fear of a collective disaster. Terrorism, genocide, flu, tsunamis.
Consciousness succumbs all too easily to unconscious influences, and these are often truer and wiser than our conscious thinking.
Each of your breaths is a priceless jewel, since each of them is irreplaceable and once gone, can never be retrieved.
If ever I said in grief or pride, I'd tired of honest things, I lied.
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