The only way to read a book of aphorisms without being bored is to open it at random and, having found something that interests you, close the book and meditate.
Aphorism Quotes
All of us encounter, at least once in our life, some individual who utters words that make us think forever. There are men whose phrases are oracles; who can condense in one sentence the secrets of life; who blurt out an aphorism that forms a character, or illustrates an existence.
It’s the danger of the aphorism that it states too much in trying to be small.
We endeavor to stuff the universe into the gullet of an aphorism.
Anthologies of aphorisms are usually arranged according to themes. This is not the best method for the aphorism, because it often has several themes and interpretations.
Perhaps the excellence of aphorisms consists not so much in the expression of some rare or abstruse sentiment, as in the comprehension of some obvious and useful truth in a few words. We frequently fall into error and folly, not because the true principles of action are not known, but because, for a time, they […]
The excellence of aphorisms consists not so much in the expression of some rare or abstruse sentiment, as in the comprehension of some useful truth in few words.
An aphorism is never exactly true. It is either a half-truth or a truth and a half.
Aphorisms are salted, not sugared, almonds at Reason’s feast.
Aphorisms are essentially an aristocratic genre of writing. The aphorist does not argue or explain, he asserts; and implicit in his assertion is a conviction that he is wiser or more intelligent than his readers. For this reason the aphorist who adopts a folksy style with “democratic” diction and grammar is a cowardly and insufferable […]
