“To be comic is merely to be playful, but wit is a serious matter.”

— Ambrose Bierce, Epigrams, The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, vol. 8, 1911

About Ambrose Bierce

Born 1842

American satirist and journalist, author of "The Devil's Dictionary".

“Perseverance, n. A lowly virtue whereby mediocrity achieves an inglorious success.”

“When prosperous the fool trembles for the evil that is to come; in adversity the philosopher smiles for the good that he has had.”

“The gambling known as business looks with austere disfavor upon the business known as gambling.”

“Wit is cultured insolence.”

“A sense of humour is a sense of proportion.”

“The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power.”

“Humor is the most engaging cowardice.”

“At bottom the world isn't a joke.”

“This type is the grotesque; its new form is comedy.”