UGLINESS, n. A gift of the gods to certain women, entailing virtue without humility.
Interpretation
The quote humorously suggests that some women are gifted with ugliness, which ironically brings them virtue but lacks humility.
Ambrose Bierce's quote plays with the concept of ugliness, framing it as a divine gift that bestows virtue upon certain women, yet paradoxically highlights the absence of humility. This clever juxtaposition serves to poke fun at societal standards of beauty and the complexities of virtue, suggesting that true moral character can exist independently of physical appearance.
In practice
This quote can be used to lighten the mood during a discussion on beauty standards.
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.
Well, Art is Art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know.
One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.
For a loser, Vegas is the meanest town on earth.
A prohibitionist is the sort of man one couldn't care to drink with, even if he drank.
No man ever dared to manifest his boredom so insolently as does a Siamese tomcat when he yawns in the face of his amorously importunate wife.
Golf is the only game where the worst player gets the best of it. He obtains more out of it as regards both exercise and enjoyment, for the good player gets worried over the slightest mistake, whereas the poor player makes too many mistakes to worry about them.
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