OUTCOME, N. A Particular Type Of Disappointment. By The Kind Of Intelligence That Sees In An Exception A Proof Of The Rule The Wisdom Of An Act Is Judged By The Outcome, The Result.

OUTCOME, N. A Particular Type Of Disappointment. By The Kind Of Intelligence That Sees In An Exception A Proof Of The Rule The Wisdom Of An Act Is Judged By The Outcome, The Result.

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OUTCOME, n. A particular type of disappointment. By the kind of
intelligence that sees in an exception a proof of the rule the wisdom
of an act is judged by the outcome, the result. This is immortal
nonsense; the wisdom of an act is to be juded by the light that the
doer had when he performed it.
-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"

Related:

ADAGE, n. Boned wisdom for weak teeth. -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary
ENCOMIAST, n. A special (but not particular) kind of liar.
-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary...
EXCEPTION, n. A thing which takes the liberty to differ from other things of its class, as an honest man, a truthful woman, etc.
The exception proves the rule" is an expression constantly upon the lips of the ignorant, who parrot it from one another with never a thought of its absurdity....
Opportunity, n. A favorable occasion for grasping a disappointment.
-- Ambrose Bierce "The Devil's Dictionary...
MULTITUDE, n. A crowd; the source of political wisdom and virtue.
In a republic, the object of the statesman's adoration....
BIGAMY, n. A mistake in taste for which the wisdom of the future will adjudge a punishment called trigamy.
-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary...
PROOF-READER, n. A malefactor who atones for making your writing nonsense by permitting the compositor to make it unintelligible.
-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary...
RECREATION, n. A particular kind of dejection to relieve a general fatigue.
-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary...
PRESENT, n. That part of eternity dividing the domain of disappointment from the realm of hope.
-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary...