Ambrose Bierce: Money Pretenses
on Friday, September 10, 2021Ambrose Bierce Money Quote saying in ‘Devil’s Dictionary’ that divination by reading wrinkles in the hand is criminal. Ambrose Bierce said:
“PALMISTRY, n. The 947th method of obtaining money by false pretences” — Ambrose Bierce
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In this definition, Ambrose Bierce is satirically criticizing palmistry, or palm reading, as a way to mislead people out of their money through deceitful claims. By describing it as the “947th method of obtaining money by false pretences”, Bierce implies that palmistry is just one of many cons used to separate people from their cash on untrue promises.
He suggests that palm readers falsely present their abilities as real in order to financially profit from clients seeking insights, even though palmistry has no legitimate validity.
So in essence, Bierce is accusing the practice of palmistry as a form of fraud, where readers misrepresent their skills to trick people into paying for readings that have no factual basis. The definition portrays palmistry as essentially a dishonest scam to dupe customers rather than an authentic predictive art.
Birthday: June 24, 1842 – Disappeared: c. 1914