An imaginary state or quality distinguished from the actual by an element known as excellence; an attribute of the critic.
The editor of an English magazine having received a letter pointing out the erroneous nature of his views and style, and signed "Perfection," promptly wrote at the foot of the letter: "I don't agree with you," and mailed it to Matthew Arnold.
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

n.

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Once Law was sitting on the bench,
And Mercy knelt a-weeping.
"Clear out!" he cried, "disordered wench!
Nor come before me creeping.
Upon your knees if you appear,
'Tis plain you have no standing here."

Then Justice came. His Honor cried:
"Your status? — devil seize you!"
"Amica curiæ," she replied —
"Friend of the court, so please you."
"Begone!" he shouted — "there's the door —
I never saw your face before!"
—G.J.

(also: law of triviality)

(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

State of lacking social contact, or generally anything you feel you need for your life. Much as physical, hunger is said to be healthy ('builds the character'), in long period of time it unhelalthily deforms your behaviour, limits your activities and makes you sad

In American politics, another throw of the dice, accorded to the player against whom they are loaded.
(also: america)
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(adj.) that which has the audacity to be other and different

(n.) a hypothetical creature that is extraterrestrial in nature, which is to say, very audaciously other and different. as with ghosts, bigfoot, fairies, and god, one of those things that is not confirmed to actually exist but many people insist they've seen

(v.) a fine, tricky venture. be careful you're not kidding yourself on your motives.
yes, the effect of $100 is roughly the same, whether you did out of a need to think of yourself as a 'good person' or out of a focus on the other person or a cause. but don't fall prey to moral backsliding.

(also: virtue)
(also: moral backsliding)

An animal usually living in the vicinity of Man, and having a rudimentary susceptibility to domestication. It is credited by many of the elder zoölogists with a certain vestigial docility acquired in a former state of seclusion, but naturalists of the postsusananthony period, having no knowledge of the seclusion, deny the virtue and declare that such as creation's dawn beheld, it roareth now. The species is the most widely distributed of all beasts of prey, infesting all habitable parts of the globe, from Greenland's spicy mountains to India's moral strand. The popular name (wolf-man) is incorrect, for the creature is of the cat kind. The woman is lithe and graceful in its movements, especially the American variety (felis pugnans), is omnivorous and can be taught not to talk.
—Balthasar Pober
(also: man)
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(v.) the act of desperately trying to salvage a plan that has gone horribly awry

“Slutty,” but spelled wrong.

n.
1. A certain person who is much in society, but whom one does not meet. A bad one.
2. The Adversary of Souls, considered under one of his many charming aspects.


(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(1819 – 1868) American dentist who pioneered the use of anaesthetic.
(also: 100 most influential people in the world)
(also: william t.g. morton quotes)

a small mammal seen as uncute because it is small and furry.

(n.) little black bird that suddenly appears every time roadkill is near

In a republic, those who exercise a supreme authority tempered by fraudulent elections. The rabble is like the sacred Simurgh, of Arabian fable — omnipotent on condition that it do nothing. (The word is Aristocratese, and has no exact equivalent in our tongue, but means, as nearly as may be, "soaring swine.")
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

Having an actual existence, as distinguished from an imaginary one. Important.

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Material things I know, or feel, or see;
All else is immaterial to me.
—Jamrach Holobom
(also: moral backsliding)
(also: the devils dictionary)

n. In architecture, the upper part of a column, upon which, in all good architecture, sits the thoughtful stork pondering unutterable things.

(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

An emotion engendered by something advantageous to one's self or disastrous to others. In the plural this word signifies those mostly artificial aids to melancholy that deepen the general gloom of existence with a particular dejection.
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

It always seems impossible until it's done. Nelson Mandela
(also: Nelson Mandela)

(n.) a terrorist who works with the good guys

(also: terrorist)

meat from an animal that was happy to be slaughtered