Thoughts on Ambrose Bierce’s Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. Bierce was basically a realist and comes across as very contrary as a result because people lie to themselves a lot, and someone who wants to tell the truth can seem ornery and difficult.
His entry for “beggar” says, “one who has relied on the assistance of friends” and “a pest unkindly inflicted on upon the suffering rich.” I have met a few homeless people in my new city. One of them is the most intelligent person I have met here, well-read and smart. I think we often stigmatize poor people, when they have just chosen to drop out of the capitalist system. I sympathize with them, as I sympathize with communists.
A following entry is for “belladonna,” meaning a beautiful woman in Italian and a deadly poison in English, a dichotomy, Bierce finds there to be distinctive differences between the Italian and English languages. My book notes the distinct differences between French and English versions of S. Beckett’s work. There is something “lost in translation.” Different languages can convey different attitudes.