„Accordion, n. An instrument in harmony with the sentiments of an assassin.“

— Ambrose Bierce
„Accord, n. Harmony.“
— Ambrose Bierce
„Cannon, n. An instrument employed in the rectification of national boundaries.“
— Ambrose Bierce
„Clarionet, n. An instrument of torture operated by a person with cotton in his ears. There are two instruments that are worse than a clarionet -- two clarionets.“
— Ambrose Bierce
„Barometer, n. An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having.“
— Ambrose Bierce
„The poniard and the stiletto were once the resource of a murderous spirit; now the vengeance, which formerly would assassinate in the dark, libels character, in the light of day, through the medium of the press.But through this instrumentality good can be wrought as well as evil.“
— Horace Mann