"PROOF, n. Evidence having a shade more of plausibility than of unlikelihood. The testimony of two credible witnesses as opposed to that of only one.
POLICE, n. An armed force for protection and participation.
RIOT, n. A popular entertainment given to the military by innocent bystanders.
REFORM, v. A thing that mostly satisfies reformers opposed to reformation.
RABBLE, n. In a republic, those who exercise a supreme authority tempered by fraudulent elections. The rabble is like the sacred Simurgh, of Arabian fable—omnipotent on condition that it do nothing. (The word is Aristocratese, and has no exact equivalent in our tongue, but means, as nearly as may be, "soaring swine.")
LAWFUL, adj. Compatible with the will of a judge having jurisdiction."
from The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce
