Ambrose (Gwinnett) Bierce, 1842-1914
was an US author and satirist
APHORISM, n. Predigested wisdom.The flabby wine-skin of his brainYields to some pathologic strain,And voids from its unstored abysmThe driblet of an aphorism.“The Mad Philosopher,” 1697
( “The Devil's Dictionary”, 1906 )