Ambrose Bierce Quotes

The Tibetans are dirty. They wash once a year and, except for festivals, seldom change their clothes till they begin to drop off. They are healthy and hardy; even the women can carry weights of sixty pounds over the passes. They attain extreme old age; their voices are harsh and loud, and their laughter is noisy and hearty.

I'm almost a vegetarian. I have a very rigid exercise routine. I'm up at 6 A.M.; I take a lot of ginseng.

If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. . . . And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made - that you made - and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

The personal interiorization of the practice of humiliation is called humility.

I'm an elderly gentleman. I haven't been in a fight involving bodily contact in 60 years. Look, I fall trying to put on my underwear in the morning.

It's hard to know when to respond to the seductiveness of the world and when to respond to its challenge. If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between the desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.

My List of Virtues contain'd at first but twelve: But a Quaker Friend having kindly inform'd me that I was generally thought proud; that my Pride show'd itself frequently in Conversation; that I was not content with being in the right when discussing any Point, but was overbearing & rather insolent; of which he convinc'd me by mentioning several Instances; - I determined endeavouring to cure myself ..., and I added Humility to my List, giving an extensive Meaning to the Word.

I think one of the things you and I have to learn is that we have to live without the consolation of belonging to a Church.... Of one thing I am certain. The religion of the future will have to be extremely ascetic, and by that I don't mean just going without food and drink.

Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough.

Asceticism is the right way of thinking for those who have to extirpate their sensual drives because they are ravening beasts of prey. But only for those!

Beware of the young doctor and the old barber.

How do you get up in the morning? Another wasted life it's so boring The system never failed you You failed yourself and all of your friends Now your heart is failing too A total system failure they pronounce you

Early bird Oh, if you’re a bird, be an early bird And catch the worm for your breakfast plate. If you’re a bird, be an early bird— But if you’re a worm, sleep late.

One way leads to acquisition, the other leads to nirvana. Realising this a monk should take no pleasure in the respect of others, but should devote himself to solitude.

If you want to gnaw greenery in the morning for health reasons, do it in your own home with the curtains drawn.

Doing good stuff or stuff that you are proud of takes time and takes effort.

I'm learning in my old age that the only thing you can do to keep your sanity is to stay in the moment.

In order to dominate the soul you must also learn to dominate the body. And in order to dominate the body you cannot fear pain.

Mortification is the soul's vigorous opposition to self, wherein sincerity is most evident.

When you find an unwillingness to rise early in the morning, endeavor to rouse your faculties, and act up to your kind, and consider that you have to do the business of a man; and that action is both beneficial and the end of your being.

Great success is a great temptation.

There's that moment every morning when you look in the mirror: Are you committed, or are you not?

The pride of youth is in strength and beauty, the pride of old age is in discretion.

Talent is often a defect in character.

Vain indeed is all overweening pride in the conquest even of the entire universe if one has not conquered one's own passions.