HIPPOGRIFF, n. An animal (now extinct) which was half horse and half griffin. The griffin was a compound creature, half lion and half eagle. The hippogriff was, therefore, only one quarter eagle, which is $2.50 in gold. Zoology is full of surprises.
Ambrose Bierce
Related "If you're cup is half empty, you can blame it on others, or you can fill it up yourself.." REZA FARIVAR One day, someone showed me a glass of water that was half full. And he said, "Is it half full or hal... ALEXANDER JODOROWSKY I remember so many things [. . .] The problem is, only half of them are true . . . and the half whic... PETER DAVID Whether the glass is half full or half empty depends on whether it was full in the first place. LIVVY ANDERSON Not half so swift the trembling doves can fly,
When the fierce eagle cleaves the liquid sky;
N... ALEXANDER POPE She was only half Bird now, and the other half song. She liked it that way. KATHERINE CATMULL One half of the world will never understand the other half, and it doesn't matter which half you're ... UNKNOWN The church is only a secular institution in which the half-educated speak to the half-converted. WILLIAM RALPH INGE The church is only a secular institution in which the half-educated speak to the half-converted W. R. INGE The first half was our half. The second half was their half. Fortunately for us, we had the lead and... CHRIS WATSON We did some soul-searching. Was the cable industry obsolete? Was it an opportune time to get out? Ou... BRIAN ROBERTS He wouldn't call a glass of water half full or half empty; he'd assume it was poisoned and run away.... MICHAEL REISMAN Men should only believe half of what women say. But which half? JEAN GIRAUDOUX She was the half-whispers born from half-thoughts, the half-breaths of dying half-hearts. HUBERT MARTIN I was pleased with the last half of the second half. The first half was a carry over from Nevada. RILEY WALLACE This was the first half. We're now about to start the second half. GEORG KOFLER The fans showed their disapproval at half-time, which was right, but we showed great courage in the ... DAVID TUTTLE One day in fridge their was a empty milk carton and a half full milk carton.The half full milk carto... GARY F EVANS... Tag, you know ‘half-and-half’ is a pejorative use of an ableist term,” Jett chastises. “Both... MATT WALLACE Politeness is only one half good manners and the other half good lying. MARY WILSON LITTLE Politeness is only one half good manners and the other half good lying. MARY WILSON LITTLE They fouled us a lot in the first half. We were in the bonus early in the second quarter. We went to... ANDREW FRANK The first half was offense, the second half was defense. JAMES DEVLIN A smart man only believes half of what he hears, a wise man knows which half. JEFF COOPER That was the best second half I've seen us play ... We scored only three points in the first half, a... JAMES FLEMING We succeeded in changing the culture of fear. Before the president was half god, half president. Now... GEORGE ISHAK Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, and the trouble is I don't know which half WILLIAM HESKETH LEVER The first half has always been as battle with East Burke. But in the third quarter we came out and s... JEFF PARHAM Laziness is a secret ingredient that goes into failure. But it's only kept a secret from the per... ROBERT HALF Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy. ROBERT HALF There is something that is much more scarce, something rarer than ability.
It is the ability to reco... ROBERT HALF Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a
tragedy. ROBERT HALF There is something that is much more scarce, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to re... ROBERT HALF Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too. ROBERT HALF Acting on a good idea is better than just having a good idea. ROBERT HALF There is something that is much more scarce, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to reco... ROBERT HALF The search for someone to blame is always successful. ROBERT HALF Asking the right questions takes as much skill as giving the right answers. ROBERT HALF Only amateurs say that they write for their own amusement. Writing is not an amusing occupation. It ... ROBERT HALF Not admitting a mistake is a bigger mistake. ROBERT HALF There are some who start their retirement long before they stop working. ROBERT HALF Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy ROBERT HALF It's easy to make good decisions when there are no bad options. ROBERT HALF What happens when the future has come and gone? ROBERT HALF No one can be right all of the time, but it helps to be right most of the time. ROBERT HALF Free advice is worth the price. ROBERT HALF Time spent on hiring is time well spent. ROBERT HALF Convincing yourself doesn't win an argument. ROBERT HALF Having respect for your own time will assure respect for the other person's time ROBERT HALF The combination of hard work and smart work is efficient work ROBERT HALF When faced with a mountain, I will not quit! I will keep striving until I climb over, find a pass th... ROBERT HALF When the customer comes first, the customer will last ROBERT HALF Even a boring occupation can be interesting when your goal is to do it better ROBERT HALF The customer is our reason for being here. ROBERT HALF When your future arrives, will you blame your past? ROBERT HALF Aspirations can cure headaches ROBERT HALF Not admiring a mistake is a bigger mistake. ROBERT HALF Belief is like a glass of water that is either half full or half empty or about to get filled,depend... DAVID ATTA (A.K.A DAVIED ATTLARS & MR DAIN) I count myself well educated, for the admirable woman at the head of the school which I attended fro... CATHERINE HELEN SPENCE One of our goals was to have a quarter where we only gave up nine points or less. Instead, we only g... JASON ASBELL I’m different,” said the Kid. “My gran always said I was half clever, half stupid, and half cr... CHARLIE HIGSON I have a half Lab and half golden retriever named Henry and then the other one, Lucy, is half Akita ... CHRISTOPHER GUEST Attack is only one half of the art of boxing. GEORGES CARPENTIER Knowledge is only one half. Faith is the other. NOVALIS To me, the glass is always half full, never half empty. EDDIE MONEY The first half was a lot better than the second half. BRIAN VAN DEUSEN Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half. JOHN WANAMAKER The second half is how we have to play. That half was played with a sense of urgency. KYLE KORVER The arena was only half full for a preseason opener, ... I was surprised because you think of Detroi... TAMPA TRIBUNE Economics is half psychology and half Grade Three arithmetic, and the U.S. does not now have either ... CONRAD BLACK Modernity signifies the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, the half of art of which the other... CHARLES BAUDELAIRE I like to look at the glass half full. ABDULLAH II OF JORDAN A teacher's day is half bureaucracy, half crisis, half monotony and one-eighth epiphany. Never mind ... SUSAN OHANIAN I thought the first half was pretty even, and in the second half the game sort of opened up a bit. HYLTON DAYES Whether your cup is half-full or half-empty, remind yourself there are others without one. MATSHONA DHLIWAYO The only way to know if the glass is half empty or half full is to measure it really accurately, lik... STATEMENTS Anything was better than nothing. Half-full was better than empty. Ignorance was the lowest form of ... BECCA FITZPATRICK That was a pretty tough second half. There's nothing in the first half of this year that is going to... MICHAEL TYNDALL Winning is only half of it. Having fun is the other half. BUM PHILLIPS That was the difference. Our defensive intensity was there in the first half and non-existent in the... LISA BLUDER The power was out for about an hour and a half, SCOTT GRIMES Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half. JOHN WANAMAKER When I first arrived in America, the very first place I came was California, and I rented a house in... OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN The first half was quite even, but it was a case of how many we were going to score in the second ha... DEREK JOHNSTON He was great in the second half. In the first half, he looked like a drunk driver. MIKE DAVIS You can never tire, never wilt-and become half-tyrant, half-psychiatrist, half-madman, and half-dead... DIRK BENEDICT You didn’t argue with Griffin when there was a plan involved. In this town, Griffin Bing was The M... GORDON KORMAN Scandal is what one half of the world takes pleasure inventing, and the other half in believing. PAUL CHATFIELD There's a great deal of women in film school. I was not the only woman in my class at UCLA. When... GINA PRINCE-BYTHEWOOD Some people see the liquid and think half full. Others only see the air and think half empty. Someti... MCCALL HOYLE Have the heart of a lion and the mind of an eagle. ROBERTO TORRES LIFESTYLE TRAINER He's so slow that he takes an hour and a half to watch 60 Minutes. EDWIN EDWARDS The glass is neither half empty nor half full, but quite simply at a point of maximum potential CHRIS BOYER see the water in the glass and care not whether it's half empty or half full ANGELICA NIGHTINGALE That was the only thing that was disappointing about the first half. AGNUS BERENATO Whether a glass is half full or half empty depends on the attitude of the person looking at it. SOURCE UNKNOWN It was measured about 10 times and half the measures seemed to show it was okay while the other half... MICHEL VION We were in the bonus in the first half and had a chance to extend our lead. It was like a different ... JEFF TURNER The opponents and I are really one. My strength and skills only half of the equation. The other half... SADAHARU OH The opponents and I are really one. My strength and skills only half of the equation. The other half... SADAHARU OH
More Ambrose Bierce
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A dead sinner revised and edited. AMBROSE BIERCE Insurrection. An unsuccessful revolution; disaffection's failure to substitute misrule for bad gover... AMBROSE BIERCE Revolution is an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment. AMBROSE BIERCE Impiety. Your irreverence toward my deity. AMBROSE BIERCE Deliberation. The act of examining one's bread to determine which side it is buttered on. AMBROSE BIERCE Take not God's name in vain; select a time when it will have effect. AMBROSE BIERCE A prejudice is a vagrant opinion without visible means of support. AMBROSE BIERCE Bigot, one who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not entertain. AMBROSE BIERCE Pray: To ask the laws of the universe to be annulled on behalf of a single petitioner confessedly un... AMBROSE BIERCE Eulogy. Praise of a person who has either the advantages of wealth and power, or the consideration t... AMBROSE BIERCE Admiration; is our polite recognition of another's resemblance to ourselves. 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An unlocked door in the prison of Identity. It leads into the jail yard. AMBROSE BIERCE Insurance: An ingenious modern game of chance in which the player is permitted to enjoy the comforta... AMBROSE BIERCE Backbite. To speak of a man as you find him when he can't find you. AMBROSE BIERCE Alien. An American sovereign in his probationary state. AMBROSE BIERCE Miss: A title with which we brand unmarried women to indicate that they are in the market. Miss, Mis... AMBROSE BIERCE Witticism. A sharp and clever remark, usually quoted and seldom noted; what the Philistine is please... AMBROSE BIERCE Wit. The salt with which the American humorist spoils his intellectual cookery by leaving it out. AMBROSE BIERCE A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man, who has no gills. AMBROSE BIERCE Impartial. Unable to perceive any promise of personal advantage from espousing either side of a cont... AMBROSE BIERCE Dog. A kind of additional or subsidiary Deity designed to catch the overflow and surplus of the worl... AMBROSE BIERCE Physician -- One upon whom we set our hopes when ill and our dogs when well. AMBROSE BIERCE Divorce. A resumption of diplomatic relations and rectification of boundaries. AMBROSE BIERCE Consul. In American politics, a person who having failed to secure an office from the people is give... AMBROSE BIERCE Forgetfulness. A gift of God bestowed upon debtors in compensation for their destitution of conscien... AMBROSE BIERCE A cynic is a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, and not as they ought to be. AMBROSE BIERCE Confidante. One entrusted by A with the secrets of B confided to herself by C. AMBROSE BIERCE The gambling known as business looks with austere disfavor upon the business known as gambling. AMBROSE BIERCE Future. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is ... AMBROSE BIERCE A funeral is a pageant whereby we attest our respect for the dead by enriching the undertaker. AMBROSE BIERCE An accident is an inevitable occurrence due to the actions of immutable natural laws. AMBROSE BIERCE To apologize is to lay the foundation for a future offense. AMBROSE BIERCE An account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly k... AMBROSE BIERCE Historian. A broad -- gauge gossip. AMBROSE BIERCE Habit is a shackle for the free. AMBROSE BIERCE Laughter -- An interior convulsion, producing a distortion of the features and accompanied by inarti... AMBROSE BIERCE Litigant. A person about to give up his skin for the hope of retaining his bones. AMBROSE BIERCE Appeal. In law, to put the dice into the box for another throw. AMBROSE BIERCE Trial. A formal inquiry designed to prove and put upon record the blameless characters of judges, ad... AMBROSE BIERCE Experience is a revelation in the light of which we renounce our errors of youth for those of age. AMBROSE BIERCE Experience. The wisdom that enables us to recognize in an undesirable old acquaintance the folly tha... AMBROSE BIERCE The act of repeating erroneously the words of another. AMBROSE BIERCE PROPHECY, n. The art and practice of selling one's credibility for future delivery. AMBROSE BIERCE When in Rome, do as Rome does. AMBROSE BIERCE To be positive: to be mistaken at the top of one's voice. AMBROSE BIERCE Censor, n. An officer of certain governments, employed to supress the works of genius. Among the Rom... AMBROSE BIERCE Bore -- a person who talks when you wish him to listen. AMBROSE BIERCE Ambition. An overmastering desire to be vilified by enemies while living and made ridiculous by frie... AMBROSE BIERCE Irreligion. The principal one of the great faiths of the world. AMBROSE BIERCE Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things withou... AMBROSE BIERCE Architect. One who drafts a plan of your house, and plans a draft of your money. AMBROSE BIERCE Genealogy. An account of one's descent from an ancestor who did not particularly care to trace his o... AMBROSE BIERCE Absurdity. A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion. AMBROSE BIERCE Abstainer. A weak man who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure. AMBROSE BIERCE Woman absent is woman dead. AMBROSE BIERCE The covers of this book are too far apart. AMBROSE BIERCE Abscond. To move in a mysterious way, commonly with the property of another. AMBROSE BIERCE Creditor. One of a tribe of savages dwelling beyond the Financial Straits and dreaded for their deso... AMBROSE BIERCE A coward is one who in a perilous emergency thinks with his legs. AMBROSE BIERCE Conservative. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from a Liberal, who wi... AMBROSE BIERCE The Senate is a body of old men charged with high duties and misdemeanors. AMBROSE BIERCE Compromise. Such an adjustment of conflicting interests as gives each adversary the satisfaction of ... AMBROSE BIERCE Alliance. In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserte... AMBROSE BIERCE ALLIANCE, n. In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply in... AMBROSE BIERCE Acquaintance is a degree of friendship called slight when its object is poor and obscure, and intima... AMBROSE BIERCE ARSENIC, n. A kind of cosmetic greatly affected by the ladies, whom it greatly affects in turn."Eat ... AMBROSE BIERCE Compromise. Such an adjustment of conflicting interests as gives each adversary the satisfaction o... AMBROSE BIERCE Convent. A place of retirement for women who wish for leisure to meditate upon the sin of idleness. AMBROSE BIERCE Religion. A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable. AMBROSE BIERCE International arbitration may be defined as the substitution of many burning questions for a smoulde... AMBROSE BIERCE DIPLOMACY, n. Lying in state, or the patriotic art of lying for one's country. AMBROSE BIERCE Calamities are of two kinds. Misfortune to ourselves, and good fortune to others. AMBROSE BIERCE Calamities are of two kinds: misfortune to ourselves, and good fortune to others. AMBROSE BIERCE A bride is a woman with a fine prospect of happiness behind her. AMBROSE BIERCE Painting, n.: The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather, and exposing them to the critic. AMBROSE BIERCE There are 4 kinds of Homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy. AMBROSE BIERCE FIDELITY, n. A virtue peculiar to those who are about to be betrayed. AMBROSE BIERCE ZOOLOGY, n. The science and history of the animal kingdom, including its king, the House Fly ("Mus... AMBROSE BIERCE ZENITH, n. The point in the heavens directly overhead to a man standing or a growing cabbage. A m... AMBROSE BIERCE YANKEE, n. In Europe, an American. In the Northern States of our Union, a New Englander. In the So... AMBROSE BIERCE Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo AMBROSE BIERCE Forgetfulness. A gift of God bestowed upon debtors in compensation for their destitution of conscie... AMBROSE BIERCE One who is in a perilous emergency thinks with his legs. AMBROSE BIERCE OBSESSED, p.p. Vexed by an evil spirit, like the Gadarene swine and other critics. Obsession was onc... AMBROSE BIERCE Optimism. The doctrine or belief that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly. AMBROSE BIERCE Women and foxes, being weak, are distinguished by superior tact. AMBROSE BIERCE Saint: A dead sinner revised and edited. AMBROSE BIERCE QUEEN, n. A woman by whom the realm is ruled when there is a king, and through whom it is ruled wh... AMBROSE BIERCE When you are ill make haste to forgive your enemies, for you may recover. AMBROSE BIERCE Electricity seems destined to play a most important part in the arts and industries. The question of... AMBROSE BIERCE Electricity is the power that causes all natural phenomena not known to be caused by something else. AMBROSE BIERCE ECCENTRICITY, n. A method of distinction so cheap that fools employ it to accentuate their incapaci... AMBROSE BIERCE LAND, n. A part of the earth's surface, considered as property. The theory that land is property s... AMBROSE BIERCE The gambling known as business looks with austere disfavor upon the business known as gambling. AMBROSE BIERCE Birth: The first and direst of all disasters. AMBROSE BIERCE Dawn: When men of reason go to bed. AMBROSE BIERCE Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affai... AMBROSE BIERCE Amnesty, n. The state's magnanimity to those offenders whom it would be too expensive to punish. AMBROSE BIERCE Patriotism. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name. AMBROSE BIERCE Admiral. That part of a warship which does the talking while the figurehead does the thinking. AMBROSE BIERCE Famous, adj.: Conspicuously miserable. AMBROSE BIERCE Positive, adj.: Mistaken at the top of one's voice. AMBROSE BIERCE Mad, adj. Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence. AMBROSE BIERCE Edible, adj.: Good to eat, and wholesome to digest, as a worm to a toad, a toad to a snake, a snake ... AMBROSE BIERCE Jealous, adj. Unduly concerned about the preservation of that which can be lost only if not worth ke... AMBROSE BIERCE Dog - a kind of additional or subsidiary Deity designed to catch the overflow and surplus of the wor... AMBROSE BIERCE Acquaintance. A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to. AMBROSE BIERCE Perseverance - a lowly virtue whereby mediocrity achieves an inglorious success. AMBROSE BIERCE Logic: The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities ... AMBROSE BIERCE Prescription: A physician's guess at what will best prolong the situation with least harm to the... AMBROSE BIERCE Lawsuit: A machine which you go into as a pig and come out of as a sausage. AMBROSE BIERCE Compromise, n. Such an adjustment of conflicting interests as gives each adversary the satisfaction ... AMBROSE BIERCE The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them up. AMBROSE BIERCE TELEPHONE n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeab... AMBROSE BIERCE Egotist , n. A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me. AMBROSE BIERCE Positive , adj.: Mistaken at the top of one's voice. AMBROSE BIERCE Beauty, n: the power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband. AMBROSE BIERCE Sweater , n. Garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly. AMBROSE BIERCE Sabbath - a weekly festival having its origin in the fact that God made the world in six days and wa... AMBROSE BIERCE The small part of ignorance that we arrange and classify we give the name of knowledge. AMBROSE BIERCE