quote · Legacy record
His act was rather that of a harmless lunatic than an enemy. We were not so new to the country as not to know that the solitary life of many a plainsman had a tendency to develop eccentricities of conduct and character not always easily distinguishable from mental aberration. A man is like a tree: in a forest of his fellows he will grow as straight as his generic and individual nature permits; alone, in the open, he yields to the deforming stresses and tortions that environ him.
His act was rather that of a harmless lunatic than an enemy. We were not so new to the country as not to know that the solitary life of many a plainsman had a tendency to develop eccentricities of conduct and character not always easily distinguishable from mental aberration. A man is like a tree: in a forest of his fellows he will grow as straight as his generic and individual nature permits; alone, in the open, he yields to the deforming stresses and tortions that environ him.
Approximate author period: c. 1842 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- Ambrose Bierce
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1842 AD · industrial
documented author birth year (1842)
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 152003; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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