Aphorisms

"Habits count for more than maxims, because habit is a living maxim, becomes flesh and instinct. To reform one's maxims is nothing: it is but to change the title of the book."

"The purpose of aphorisms is to keep fools who have memorised them from having nothing to say."

"The aphorist does not argue or explain, he asserts; and implicit in his assertion is a conviction that he is wiser and more intelligent than his readers."

"Aphorisms, except they should be ridiculous, cannot be made but of the pith and heart of sciences; for discourse of illustration is cut off; recitals of examples are cut off; discourse of connection and order is cut off; descriptions of practice are cut off. So there remaineth nothing to fill the aphorisms but some good quantity of observation; and therefore no man can suffice, nor in reason will attempt, to write aphorisms, but he that is sound and grounded."

"Aphorisms, representing a knowledge broken, do invite men to inquire further; whereas methods, carrying the show of a total, do secure men, as if they were at furthest."

"‘Aphorizein’, from which we get the word ‘aphorism’, means to retreat to such a distance that a horizon of thought is formed which never again closes on itself."

"APHORISM, n. Predigested wisdom.The flabby wine-skin of his brain Yields to some pathologic strain, And voids from its unstored abysm The driblet of an aphorism. "The Mad Philosopher," 1697"

"The hunter for aphorisms on human nature has to fish in muddy water, and he is ever condemned to find much of his own mind."

"It [an epigram] should sound like something that somebody might say, but it should be something that nobody has ever said before."

"There is something anachronistic about the very idea of aphorisms or maxims. Contemporary culture isn’t stately enough, or stable enough, to support them."

"Aphorisms are bad for novels. They stick in the reader’s teeth."

"The great writers of aphorisms read as if they had all known each other very well."

"By himself, man adjusts everything to his own comfort. By himself, he is an irresistible liar. For he never says anything truly unpleasant to himself without instantly counterbalancing it with something flattering. The sentence [aphorism] from the outside has an impact because it comes unexpectedly: one does not have any counterweight ready for it. One helps it with the same strength one would have met it with in other circumstances."

"Exclusively of the abstract sciences, the largest and worthiest portion of our knowledge consists of aphorisms: and the greatest and best of men is but an aphorism."

"In an aphorism, aptness counts for more than truth."

"Aphorisms are not true or false, but pointed or flat."

"Aphorisms have never seduced anybody, but they have fooled some into considering themselves worldly-wise."

"An aphorism that does not score is just one more sentence."

"An aphorism is a truth set apart for its pointedness and excellence."

"An aphorism is a speculative principle either in science or morals, which is presented in a few words to the understanding; it is the substance of a doctrine, and many aphorisms may contain the abstract of a science."

"An aphorism is a name but every name can take on the figure of aphorism."

"I’ve always felt aphorisms as reminders, gongs–in–words."

"An aphorism is the last link in a long chain of thought."

"Windbags can be right. Aphorists can be wrong. It is a tough world."

"There is a difference between being witty – quick with the repartee and the insight – and having an aptitude for aphorism."

"To have the last word, to be beyond contradiction, to inhabit a world of assertion and paradox – it may not be every aphorist’s ambition, but it seems to come with the turf."

"An aphorism is a generalization, therefore not modern."

"A true aphorism legitimates itself; whoever feels the need to legitimate an aphorism, admits that it is illegal. The surface of an aphorism should conceal profound truth. The claim that everybody can learn everything is superficial, but is as wrong as it can be. As a matter of fact, it is no aphorism but an advertising slogan, and the excuse that it is an aphorism, is a mere wink: in advertising you cannot do without exaggerating. But even as a wink it does not become more true."

"Aphorisms are literature’s hand luggage. Light and compact they fit easily into the overhead compartment of your brain and contain everything you need to get through a rough day at the office or a dark night of the soul."

"For the aphorist, I think, seeing something and saying something are the same thing."

"Aphorisms are short, pithy sayings; they are individual passages that can be recited and remain intelligible out of context; they can stand on their own without further support."

"Without losing ourselves in a wilderness of definitions, we can all agree that the most obvious characteristic of an aphorism, apart from its brevity, is that it is a generalization. It offers a comment on some recurrent aspect of life, couched in terms which are meant to be permanently and universally applicable."

"But, 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."

"Pointed axioms and acute replies fly loose about the world, and are assigned successively to those whom it may be the fashion to celebrate."

"I fancy mankind may come, in time, to write all aphoristically, except in narrative; grow weary of preparation, and connection, and illustration, and all those arts by which a big book is made."

"Genuine bon mots surprise those from whose lips they fall, no less than they do those who listen to them."

"You don't go to the ass; you go to the head."

"An aphorism never coincides with the truth: it is either a half-truth or one-and-a-half truths."

"Someone who can write aphorisms should not fritter away his time writing essays."

"One cannot dictate an aphorism to a typist. It would take too long."

"Aphorism: what is worth quoting from the soul’s dialogue with itself."

"There is always something positive about the wisdom in aphorisms; jokes are not always that optimistic."

"The fragment, like a fraction, reminds us of its foundation in totality."

"An aphorism is a many-faceted observation: speculative and not necessarily witty."

"Aphorism or maxim, let us remember that this wisdom of life is the true salt of literature; that those books, at least in prose, are most nourishing which are most richly stored with it; and that is one of the great objects, apart from the mere acquisition of knowledge, which men ought to seek in the reading of books."

"Beware of cultivating this delicate art."

"There are aphorisms that, like airplanes, stay up only while they are in motion."

"A good aphorism is too hard for the teeth of time and is not eaten up by all the centuries, even though it serves as food for every age: hence it is the greatest paradox in literature, the imperishable in the midst of change, the nourishment which—like salt—is always prized, but which never loses its savor as salt does."

"An aphorism is a link in a chain of thoughts. It demands that the reader reconstitute this chain with his own means. An aphorism is a presumption. — Or it is a precaution, as Heraclitus knew. An aphorism must, if it is to be enjoyed, be put into contact and tempered with other material (examples, explanations, stories). Most do not understand this and for this reason one may express what is risky without risk"

"An aphorism is an audacity."

"An aphorism, honestly stamped and molded, has not yet been “deciphered” once we have read it over; rather, its exegesis—for which an art of exegesis is needed—has only just begun."

"Whoever writes in blood and aphorisms wants not to be learned but to be learned by heart."

"Behind every aphoristic assertion there should be the watermark of a question."

"They’ve [aphorisms] got a real form to them. They’re not very popular or fashionable in Anglophone culture – they are assertions, so they can sound hubristic: you sometimes find yourself thinking, “Who the hell am I to say this?” But then, why not? You expect people to disagree. The point is to stir things up."

"The aphorism is only useful in small measured doses—but even then it’s only a kind of intellectual placebo, prompting ideas the reader should have prompted in themselves anyway."

"Despite our attempts to imbue them with some flavor, any flavor—aphorisms all turn out so...generic; they all sound as if they were delivered by the same disenfranchised, bad-tempered minor deity."

"This ME made whole by combining countless fragments could not live in any one part with complete ease."

"Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it."

"An aphorism ought to be entirely isolated from the surrounding world like a little work of art and complete in itself like a hedgehog."

"Aphorisms are the true form of the universal philosophy."

"An aphorism has been defined as a proverb coined in a private mint, and the definition is a happy one; for the aphorism, like the proverb, is the result of observation, and however private and superior the mint, the coins it strikes must, to find acceptance, be made of current metal."

"Experience is always seeking for special literary forms in which its various aspects can find their most adequate expression; and there are many of these aspects which are best rendered in a fragmentary fashion, because they are themselves fragments of experience, gleams and flashes of light, rather than the steady glow of a larger illumination."

"We frequently fall into error and folly, Dr. Johnson tells us, “not because the true principles of action are not known, but because, for a time, they are not remembered.” To compress, therefore, the great and obvious rules of life into brief sentences which are not easily forgotten is, as he said, to confer a real benefit upon us."

"It is in the nature of aphoristic thinking to be always in a state of concluding; a bid to have the final word is inherent in all powerful phrase-making."

"Aphorisms are rogue ideas."

"An aphorism is not an argument; it is too well-bred for that."

"Aphoristic thinking is impatient thinking"

"Most maxim-mongers have preferred the prettiness to the justness of a thought, and the turn to the truth; but I have refused myself to everything that my own experience did not justify and confirm."

"In an important sense, then, an aphorism is the “pure fool” of discourse, being only simply appearance. Yet the attempt to find it out will stir up the fermentation on which it rests, much in the way that Oedipus brings himself to light. The aphorism presents itself as an answer for which we know not the question."

"The aphorism is a mode of symbolic representation that belongs to an era dominated by highly individualized and introverted experience, atomistic thought and feelings, an absence of commonly accepted religious beliefs and moral standards and the general disintegration of traditional culture."

"The difference between an aphorism and a fragment is in their means of articulation. While aphorisms are primarily literary or philosophical, fragments can be pictorial, musical, or architectural as well. But because the highest degree of articulation can be achieved in an aphorism, it remains for all fragments the measure of possible expression and of their latent meaning."

"Un bon mot ne prouve rien."

"Even when we get what we wish, it is not ours."

"A wise man rules his passions, a fool obeys them."

"Human reason grows rich by self-conquest."

"Tension weakens the bow; the want of it, the mind."

"When Gold argues the cause, eloquence is impotent."

"To receive a favor is to pawn your freedom."

"The more skillfully the language of goodness is assumed, the greater the depravity."

"In the presence of a good man, anger is speedily cooled."

"It is well to moor your bark with two anchors."

"Consult your conscience, rather than popular opinion."

"Consider what you ought to say, and not what you think."

"Wisdom had rather be buffeted than not be listened to."

"Folly had rather be unheard than be buffeted."

"Reproach in misfortune is an unseasonable cruelty."

"He who can get more than belongs to him is apt to accommodate his desires to his opportunity."

"Every man is a master in his own calling"

"Patience is a remedy for every sorrow."

"The greatest of comforts is to be free from blame."

"One day treats us like a hireling nurse, another, like a mother."

"Pleasant is the remembrance of the ills that are past."

"Avoid cupidity, and you conquer a kingdom."

"A kindness should be received in the spirit that prompted it."

"Speed itself is slow when cupidity waits."

"The party to which the rabble belong is ever the worst."

"Even calamity becomes virtue's opportunity."

"The good to which we have become accustomed, is often an evil."

"He who takes counsel of good faith, is just even to an enemy."

"It is sometimes expedient to forget who we are."

"We may with advantage at times forget what we know."

"Pecuniary gain first suggested to men to make Fortune a goddess."

"Many consult their reputation; but few their conscience."

"The master is a slave when he fears those whom he rules."

"Prosperity is the nurse of ill temper."

"Bear without murmuring what cannot be changed."

"Fortune has no lawful control over men's morals."

"An over-taxed patience gives way to fierce anger."

"A noble steed is not annoyed by the barking of dogs."

"It is a useless defense which cannot find a fair trial."

"The most formidable enemy lies hid in one's own heart."

"There are some remedies worse than the disease."

"Repentance for our past deeds is a severe mental punishment."

"Powerful indeed is the empire of habit."

"The severest affliction is the one which has never been tried."

"Do not take part in the council, unless you are called."

"Man's life is a loan, not a gift."

"Would you have a great empire? Rule over yourself."

"The sinner who repented after the offense, was a little imprudent."

"Avarice is kind to no one, and most cruel toward itself."

"To be not too sanguine of our conclusions, is one half of wisdom."

"To forget the wrongs you receive, is to remedy them."

"To do good you should know what good is."

"There is more venom than truth in the words of envy."

"The rancor of envy is concealed, but is none the less hostile."

"To withstand the assaults of envy, you must be either a hero or a saint."

"Shun an angry man for a moment — your enemy forever."

"Anger thinks crime justifiable."

"Every word of an angry man conveys a reproach."

"When the angry man grows cool, he is angry with himself."

"Anger is apt to forget the existence of law."

"The Law keeps her eye on the angry man, when he does not see the Law."

"He who chases two hares will catch neither."

"He who lives in solitude may make his own laws."

"A noble spirit finds a cure for injustice in forgetting it."

"Mighty rivers may easily be leaped at their source."

"Hard to bear is the poverty which follows misuse of riches."

"It is bad management when we suffer fortune to be our guide."

"They live ill who expect to live always."

"He who is bent on doing evil, can never want occasion."

"It is a bad plan that admits of no modification."

"He should be called bad, who is good only for selfish ends."

"He will become wicked himself, who feasts with the wicked."

"Fear, and not kindness, restrains the vicious."

"The master who fears his slave, is the greater slave."

"To depend on another's nod for a livelihood, is a sad destiny."

"Methinks you are unhappy, if you never have been so."

"Delay is always vexatious, but it is wisdom's opportunity."

"Understand your friend's character, but do not hate it."

"The fear of death is more to be dreaded than death itself."

"Every thing which has birth, must pay tribute to death."

"We should bear our destiny, not weep over it."

"Avarice never lacks a reason for refusing a favor."

"No one should be judge in his own cause."

"Be the first to laugh at your own blunder, and no one will laugh at you."

"Depravity is its own greatest punishment."

"Fortune takes nothing away but her own gifts."

"There is no more shameful sight, than an old man commencing life."

"The truth is lost when there is too much contention about it."

"It is only the ignorant who despise education."

"It is vain to be the pupil of a sage if you have no brains yourself."

"He can best avoid a snare who knows how to set one."

"Do not despise the lowest steps in the ascent to greatness."

"He is not likely to perish in the ruins who trembles at a crack in the wall."

"To control a man against his will, is not to correct him, but injure him."

"That is not yours which fortune made yours."

"You will find it difficult to be sole guardian over that which multitudes covet."

"He bids fair to grow wise, who has discovered that he is not so."

"Don't consider how many you can please, but whom."

"It is not safe to indulge in a play of wits with kings."

"To yield to our friends is not to be overcome, but to conquer."

"There is no pleasure which continued enjoyment cannot render disgusting."

"He is never happy whose thoughts always run with his fears."

"The kind attentions of the wife, speedily gender disgust for the concubine."

"He is a despicable sage whose wisdom does not profit himself."

"A cheerful obedience is universal, when the worthy bear rule."

"Every day should be passed as if it were to be our last."

"Be at war with men's vices, at peace with themselves."

"Craft, and not sorrow, is seen in a hypocrite's tears."

"We find something of the favor sought in a graceful refusal."

"Patience and fortitude create their own happiness."

"You do well to consider your friend's error your own."

"Be your money's master, not its slave."

"To take refuge with an inferior, is to betray one's self."

"Hearken rather to your conscience than to opinion."

"Freedom alone is the source of noble action."

"When you have good materials, employ good workmen."

"He who is eager to condemn, takes delight in condemning."

"A hasty verdict betrays a desire to find a crime committed."

"Wit itself is folly in a sage."

"He will yield to fear, who has no regard for honor."

"God looks at the clean hands, not the full ones."

"In being modest there is a slight touch of servility."

"He who violates another's honor loses his own."

"How happy the life unembarrassed by the cares of business!"

"How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself!"

"How often must he ask for pardon who has refused it when asked!"

"How timid is he who stands in terror of poverty!"

"Consider the useful agreeable, even though if were not."

"He who hesitates to take the right course, deliberates to no purpose."

"It is no vice to keep a vice out of sight."

"He who can play the fool at pleasure can be wise if he will."

"He who has the power to harm is dreaded when he does not intend harm."

"He gets through too late who goes too fast."

"He who praises himself will speedily find a censor."

"He who fears his friend teaches his friend to fear him."

"Virtue's deeds are glory's deeds."

"It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity."

"They pass peaceful lives who ignore mine and thine."

"The wise man guards against future evils as if they were present."

"What we admire, we never cease commending to ourselves."

"It matters not with what purpose you do it, if the act itself be bad."

"He can have what he wishes who wishes just enough."

"When the soul rules over itself its empire is lasting."

"He is condemned every day who stands in daily fear of condemnation."

"When you are in love you are not wise, and when you are wise you are not in love."

"When you forgive an enemy you gain many friends."

"It is robbery to receive a favor which you cannot return."

"Youth should be governed by reason, not by force."

"Good health and good sense are two of life's greatest blessings."

"He who imposes his own talk on the circle, does not converse; he plays the master."

"It is not a hard lot to be obliged to return to the state whence we came."

"I should not be pleased to be king, if I must therefore be pleased to be cruel."

"You can obey a request much better than a command."

"The eyes and ears of the mob are often false witnesses."

"Vain is that wisdom which does not profit the possessor."

"You are eloquent enough if truth speaks through you."

"Better be ignorant of a matter than half know it."

"The angry think their power greater than it is."

"Speak well of your friend in public, admonish him in secret."

"Kindness of heart is always happy."

"Always shun whatever may make you angry."

"He punishes himself who repents of his deeds."

"The greatest of empires, is the empire over one's self."

"Guilt's assistant is guilt's participant."

"In critical junctures, temerity is wont to take the place of prudence."

"Glory is apt to follow when industry has prepared the road."

"There is hope of improvement so long as a man is alive to shame."

"It is folly to censure him whom all the world adores."

"It is folly to punish your neighbour by fire when you live next door."

"Benevolence tries persuasion first, and then severer measures."

"Avarice is as destitute of what it has, as what it has not."

"Suspicion begets suspicion."

"He is much to be dreaded who stands in dread of poverty."

"Timidity styles itself caution; stinginess frugality."

"The poor man is ruined as soon as he begins to ape the rich."

"When the elder do wrong, the younger learn the lesson."

"The wounds of the soul should be cured before those of the body."

"Either be silent, or say something better than silence."

"Why do we not hear the truth? Because we don't speak it."

"It is better to trust virtue than fortune."

"Would you be known by every body? Then you know nobody."

"He is not considered a dupe who understood that he was deceived."

"The little vices of the great must needs be accounted very great."

"It is an advantage not to possess that which you must hold against your will."

"Anger would inflict punishment on another; meanwhile, it tortures itself."

"The happy man is not he who seems thus to others, but who seems thus to himself."

"Error and repentance are the attendants on hasty decisions."

"How terrible is that anguish which can find no voice"

"It is a bitter dose to be taught obedience after you have learned to rule."

"He who subdues his temper vanquishes his greatest enemy."

"He abounds in virtues who loves those of others."

"Reason avails nothing when passion has the mastery."

"Death ever uncertain gets the start of such as are always beginning to live."

"Money is a servant if you know how to use it; if not, it is a master."

"When we speak evil of others, we generally condemn ourselves."

"The later in life evil courses are begun, the more disgraceful they are."

"The same man can rarely say a great deal, and say it to the purpose."

"Not the criminals, but their crimes, it is well to extirpate."

"In our hatred of guilt, it is folly to ruin innocence."

"Let your life be pleasing to the multitude, and it can not be so to yourself."

"If you gain new friends, don't forget the old ones."

"Avarice is as destitute of what it has, as poverty of what it has not."

"Hell is full of good meanings and wishings."

"Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works."

"[T]he road to hell is paved with adverbs."

"Hell is paved with good intentions."

"Hell is paved with infants' skulls."

"L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés ou désirs."

"Hell is paved with priests' skulls."

"Do not be troubled by St. Bernard's saying that "Hell is full of good intentions and wills.""

"Hell is paved with the skulls of great scholars, and paled in with the bones of great men."

"El infierno es lleno de buenas intenciones."

"It has been more wittily than charitably said that hell is paved with good intentions; they have their place in heaven also."

"Die Helle ist mit Mönchskappen, Pfaffenfalten, und Pickelhauben gepflastert."