WIST Quotations

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Adage,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-03-05)

Dave — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 20:16:43 +0000

ADAGE, n. A hoary-headed platitude that is kicked along the centuries until nothing is left of it but its clothes. A “saw” which has worn out its teeth on the human understanding.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Adage,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-03-05)
(Source)

Not collected in later books. Instead, in The Cynic's Word Book (1906), he changed it to "Boned wisdom for weak teeth."

Mencken, H. L. -- A Book of Burlesques, “The Jazz Webster” (1924)

Dave — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 17:05:18 +0000

PLATITUDE. An idea (a) that is admitted to be true by everyone, and (b) that is not true.

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
A Book of Burlesques, “The Jazz Webster” (1924)
(Source)

See his definition of "epigram."

Variant:

Platitude — An idea (a) that is admitted to be true by everyone, and (b) that is not true.
[Chrestomathy, ch. 30 "Sententiae" (1949)]

Santayana, George -- The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, Vol. 5 “Reason in Science,” ch. 8 “Prerational Morality” (1905)

Dave — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 12:35:48 +0000

Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it.

George Santayana (1863-1952) Spanish-American poet and philosopher [Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruíz de Santayana y Borrás]
The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, Vol. 5 “Reason in Science,” ch. 8 “Prerational Morality” (1905)
(Source)

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Self-Evident,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

SELF-EVIDENT, adj. Evident to one’s self and to nobody else.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Self-Evident,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)

Originally published in The Devil's Dictionary [A-Z] as Vol. 7 of his Collected Works.