"Eulogy. Praise of a person who has either the advantages of wealth and power, or the consideration to be dead"

Ambrose Bierce’s sardonic definition of “eulogy” exposes the subtleties and ironies in the ways society treats the dead and the powerful. Praising a person happens easily, Bierce suggests, when that person possesses wealth and power, attributes that often command attention, admiration, and even flattery during their lifetime. Society tends to valorize those who have achieved prominence, sometimes regardless of actual merit or moral standing. Bierce’s inference is that eulogies for such individuals may be less about honest memory and more about the social conventions that surround influence and status. Praising the powerful, in his view, becomes an exercise in affirming or aspiring to their advantages.

On the other hand, Bierce wryly claims that even those who lack power or riches can attain praise if only they are dead. Death confers a unique status, immediately reshaping how someone is remembered: their faults are softened or omitted, and virtues are accentuated or imagined. The dictum “speak no ill of the dead” permeates many cultures, fostering a kind of universal generosity in retrospect. Bierce’s humor hints at hypocrisy, as if to say: in life you might be scorned, but in death you’ll be lionized, your flaws revised or forgotten, your deeds elevated beyond recognition.

This duality, praise bestowed either for worldly achievement or simple absence by death, calls attention to the performative nature of eulogies. Sincerity is optional; what matters more is satisfying social expectations, soothing survivors, or currying favor with those left behind. Bierce deftly unmasks these customary rituals, using wit to underline the fact that public praise often depends less on an individual’s true character, and more on their perceived importance or the disarming power of mortality. Ultimately, the definition mocks the hollow platitudes and strategic flattery so easily bestowed, questioning whether eulogies convey truth or merely fulfill collective needs for propriety or comfort.