THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY

Ambrose Bierce

 

Q - R 

 

Quorum - A sufficient number of members of a deliberative body to have their own way

Quotation - The act of repeating erroneously the words of another

Rascal - A fool considered under another aspect

Reality - The dream of a mad philosopher

Really - Apparently 

Reason - To weigh probabilities on the scales of desire

Reasonable - Accessible to the infection of our own opinions

Reconsider - To seek a justification for a decision already made

Resolute - Obstinate in a course that we approve

Responsibility - A detachable burden easily shifted to the shoulders of God, Fate, Fortune, Luck, or one's neighbor

Road - A strip of land along which one may pass from where it is too tiresome to be and to where it is futile to go

Rumor - A favorite weapon of the assassins of character