Ambrose Bierce
“ADMIRATION, n. Our polite recognition of another’s resemblance to ourselves.”
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary (1906)
Documented source
Attribution
Ambrose Bierce
Source
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary (1906)
In full
“ADMIRATION, n. Our polite recognition of another’s resemblance to ourselves.”
Status
Public domain in the United States
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About this line
Bierce spent decades writing satirical definitions for newspaper columns before collecting them as The Devil’s Dictionary. His entry for admiration turns a compliment inside out: what we call admiring someone, he says, is really us spotting ourselves in them. Flattering to no one — which was exactly his method.
Why we carry this line
A mirror disguised as a compliment. Bierce wasn’t on my radar until he was — and now he won’t leave.
Objects carrying this line
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