The Devil's Dictionary

'Patience, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue.' In alphabetical order, Ambrose Bierce redefines the words of the English language as a cynic sees them: 'Bore, n. A person who talks when you wish him to listen'; 'Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles'; 'Peace, n. In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting.' Hundreds of short, savage entries mock politics, religion, marriage, money and human vanity.

Bierce (1842–about 1914), a Civil War veteran and San Francisco journalist known as 'Bitter Bierce', published the definitions in newspapers over many years and collected them in 1906 as The Cynic's Word Book, renamed in 1911. He disappeared in Mexico during its revolution and was never seen again. Read his story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.