Ambrose Bierce: Debtors Forgetfulness Gift

Posted by admin on Saturday, June 16, 2018

Ambrose Bierce Money Quote saying the ability to forget payment of debts is a gift from the creator to compensate them for lack of conscience. Ambrose Bierce said:
 

 

“Forgetfulness. A gift of God bestowed upon debtors in compensation for their destitution of conscience” — Ambrose Bierce

 

 

In this quote, Ambrose Bierce is making a cynical commentary on forgetfulness and its relationship to debt. By calling forgetfulness a “gift of God” that compensates for the “destitution of conscience” of debtors, Bierce suggests that debtors who lack remorse or guilt about owing money are instead given the “gift” of being able to forget or ignore their debts.

He implies that rather than feel bad about debt, some choose to simply forget and not properly address their financial obligations. So in essence, the quote portrays forgetfulness as a way for debtors who lack a moral conscience about debt burdens to mentally escape or evade their responsibilities, rather than truly resolving their debts in a principled way.

Bierce presents this notion in a critical manner that casts forgetfulness as an unethical substitution for atoning for one’s financial obligations.