"future, n. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is assured."

Happiness

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Thematic Reflection

This quotation examines the core nature of Happiness as articulated by Ambrose Bierce. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Happiness provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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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.

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More by Ambrose Bierce

"Mayonnaise: One of the sauces which serve the French in place of a state religion."

— Ambrose Bierce
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"Positive, adj.: Mistaken at the top of one's voice."

— Ambrose Bierce
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"Education, n.: That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding."

— Ambrose Bierce
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"Religion. A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable."

— Ambrose Bierce
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More about Happiness

"Recommend virtue to your children it alone, not money, can make them happy. I speak from experience."

— Ludwig van Beethoven
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"I'm happy to report that 'The New Press' is still in business to this day. But not thanks to me. I was a really bad publishing intern."

— Lev Grossman
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"The poet's expression of joy conceals his despair at not having found the reality of joy."

— Max Jacob
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"I won't be happy until we have every boy in America between the ages of six and sixteen wearing a glove and swinging a bat."

— Babe Ruth
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