Ambrose Bierce: Logic

LOGIC, n.  The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding.  The basic of logic is the syllogism, consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusion -- thus:

 

  _Major Premise_:  Sixty men can do a piece of work sixty times as quickly as one man.

 

  _Minor Premise_:  One man can dig a posthole in sixty seconds;

 

therefore --

 

  _Conclusion_:  Sixty men can dig a posthole in one second.

 

  This may be called the syllogism arithmetical, in which, by combining logic and mathematics, we obtain a double certainty and are twice blessed.