Ambrose Bierce: Declining to be Bribed

Ambrose Bierce photo: Public Domain
Bierce around 1866
By Photograph currently resides in the Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literaturehttp://etext.lib.virginia.edu/eaf/authors/ab.htm#Other, EAF Author: Ambrose Bierce Collection, Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library. From the website of the Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature: The materials on this website have been made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. For these purposes, you may reproduce (print, make photocopies, or download) materials from this website without prior permission, on the condition that you provide proper attribution of the source in all copies (see below). Although we do not require you to contact us in advance for these purposes, we do appreciate hearing from teachers, students, and researchers who are using our resources in interesting ways (send e-mail to Special Collections at [email protected])., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18540654

Check Out: Bob Madison, American Horror Writers (Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publications, Inc., 2001), pp. 21-22.

“Ambrose Bierce's literary reputation is based primarily on his short stories about the Civil War and the supernatural—a body of work that makes up a relatively small part of his total output. Often compared to the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, these stories share an attraction to death in its more bizarre forms, featuring depictions of mental deterioration, uncanny and otherworldly manifestations, and the horror of existence in a meaningless universe. Like Poe, Bierce professed to be mainly concerned with the artistry of his work, yet critics find him more intent on conveying his misanthropy and pessimism. His bare, economical style of supernatural horror is usually distinguished from the verbally lavish tales of Poe. In his lifetime, Bierce was famous as a California journalist dedicated to exposing the truth as he understood it, regardless of whose reputations were harmed by his attacks. For his sardonic wit and damning observations on the personalities and events of the day, he became known as ‘the wickedest man in San Francisco.’”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ambrose-bierce

“Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842[2] – c. 1914[3]) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil Warveteran. His book The Devil's Dictionary was named one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. His story ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ has been described as ‘one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature’, and his book Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (also published as In the Midst of Life) was named by the Grolier Club one of the 100 most influential American books printed before 1900.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_Bierce

Ambrose Bierce Quotes”
“War is God's way of teaching Americans geography.”
“Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.”
“Love, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage.”
“The covers of this book are too far apart.”
“Egotist, n. A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me.”

See also:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/14403.Ambrose_Bierce