"Litigant. A person about to give up his skin for the hope of retaining his bones."

Hope

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Insight & Reflection

The theme of hope is universal, yet Ambrose Bierce manages to capture its essence in a uniquely profound way. Taking a moment to internalize this can shift our mindset, reminding us that our perspective on hope often shapes our reality.

About Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American author, journalist, and poet. A prolific and versatile writer, Bierce was regarded as one of the most influential journalists in the United States and as a pioneering writer of realist fiction. For his horror writing, Michael Dirda ranked him alongside Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft. S. T. Joshi speculates that "he may well be the greatest satirist America has ever produced, and in this regard can take his place with such figures as Juvenal, Swift, and Voltaire." His war stories influenced Stephen Crane, Ernest Hemingway and others, and he was considered an influential and feared literary critic. In recent decades, Bierce has gained wider respect as a fabulist and poet.

More quotes by Ambrose Bierce  ’
Editorial Note: This quote is curated and fact-checked by the Quotes Archive Editorial Team. Verified Literature Specialist.

More by Ambrose Bierce

"Alliance - in international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third."

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"Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance."

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More about Hope

"Breaking records is not something you expect to be doing. That's like a sports thing, it's not usually a comedy and writing thing."

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"It is a essential truth that a dream nurtured by daily toil will inevitably outshine a wish born of idle hope — an essential principle for the reflective life."

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