To apologize is to lay the foundation for a further offense. (Ambrose Bierce)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Apologizing can be seen as a sign of weakness
Examples
His apology was taken as a sign of weakness, to apologize is to lay the foundation for a further offense
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “To apologize is to lay the foundation for a further offense. (Ambrose Bierce)” mean?
Apologizing can be seen as a sign of weakness
Is “To apologize is to lay the foundation for a further offense. (Ambrose Bierce)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.