Ambrose Bierce (1842-

1914)

"Death is not the end," wrote

Ambrose Bierce, "there remains
litigation over the estate."

"Bitter Bierce," as he was often

called, was an unapologetic
misanthrope who loathed
humanity and took pleasure in
deflating every inspiring myth or
optimistic sentiment with a sharp His personal and nihilistic motto
comment. was “Nothing Matters.”

(from rjgeib.com)
 Ambrose Bierce (1842-
1914)

Bierce wrote about his early years:

With what anguish of mind I

remember my childhood,
Recalled in the light of a knowledge
since gained;
The malarious farm, the wet, fungus
grown wildwood,
The chills then contracted that since
have remained.

(from answers.com)
Ambrose Bierce (1842-
1914)

After serving in the Civil War -- and

seeing up close the depths to which
man could sink -- he became a
journalist in San Francisco
infamous for cutting one-liners and
put-downs.

He is famous for his short stories of

war, horror, and the West
(“Occurrence on Owl Creek
Bridge”) as well as The Devil’s
Dictionary.
(from rjgeib.com)
The Devil’s Dictionary (selections)
by Ambrose Bierce 1911

An irreverent collection of definitions and

The Devil’s Dictionary selections)
by Ambrose Bierce 1911

An irreverent collection of definitions and

quotes
POLITENESS, n. The most acceptable hypocrisy.

ABSURDITY, n. A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent

with one's own opinion.

BORE, n.: A person who talks when you wish him to listen.

BRAIN: an apparatus with which we think we think.

 Ambrose Bierce (1842-
1914)

October 1913, at the age of seventy-one, Bierce decided to quit the

United States and observe the Pancho Villa revolution in Mexico.
Before leaving, he wrote the following letter to his niece Lora
("Carlt" is her husband, Carlton):

Dear Lora,
I go away tomorrow for a long time, so
this is only to say good-bye. I think there
is nothing else worth saying; therefore,
you will naturally expect a long letter.
What an intolerable world this would be if
we said nothing but what is worth saying!
And did nothing foolish -- like going into
Mexico and South America. (from rjgeib.com)
Ambrose Bierce (1842-
1914)

I'm hoping that you will go to the mine soon. You must
hunger and thirst for the mountains -- Carlt likewise. So do
I. Civilization be dinged! -- It is the mountains and the
desert for me.
Good-by -- if you hear of my being stood up against a
Mexican stone wall and shot to rags please know that I think
that a pretty good way to depart his life. It beats old age,
disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in
Mexico -- ah, that is euthanasia!
With love to Carlt, affectionately yours,
Ambrose

(from rjgeib.com)
 Ambrose Bierce (1842-
1914)
Odd & Interesting facts:
•As a Union soldier during the Civil War, he was wounded in the temple. The bullet lodged
within his skull behind his left ear.
•He worked for a while at the U.S. Mint.
•He tried his luck in the mining business in the Dakota Territory without success.
•His son, Day, killed a rival suitor of a 16-year-old girl and eventually was killed in a duel in
1889. Bierce's other son, Leigh, died of pneumonia at the age of 26. Another account has his sons
dying one by suicide after a failed love affair, and the other from acute alcohol intoxication.
•Bierce claimed that he kept the ashes of his sons on his writing desk in a cigar-box.
•In 1910, Bierce engaged in what became a legendary drinking bout with Jack London at a club
in Sonoma County, California.
•Two of his stories have been transformed into short operas.
•He was good friends with Mark Twain.
•His California home has been turned into a Bed & Breakfast, the Ambrose Bierce House, with
rooms renting at $200+ a night.
•Bierce's distant relative, Paul Bierce, has written some fiction in the style of his ancestor.

Various sources
Ambrose Bierce (1842-
1914)
Late in 1913, at the age of seventy-
one, Bierce retired from writing and
went to Mexico where he vanished
mysteriously. "I am going away to
South America, and have not the
faintest notion when I shall return," he
wrote to Samuel Loveman on
September 10, 1913. From Chihuahua
he posted a letter which was his last.
According to one explanation Bierce
did not go to Mexico at all but,
instead, committed suicide in the
Grand Canyon. One wild story tells

The
that he was held captive by a tribe of
Brazilian Indians. (www.kirjasto.sci.fi)