“Almost all books of aphorisms, which have ever acquired a reputation, have retained it,” John Stuart Mill wrote in 1837, aphoristically—that is to say, with a neat if slightly dubious finality. (“How ...

The origins of the aphorism are both elevated and abject, as fits a literary form of sublime ambition that is at present in a kind of disgrace. The English word, which seems first to have been used in ...

"Aphorism" is a slightly vague term, especially compared to some of its grammar fellows. An aphorism doesn't have to follow any strict grammatical rule, unlike palindromes or pangrams. Instead, an ...

Short Flights: Thirty-two Modern Writers Share Aphorisms of Insight, Inspiration, and Wit, edited by James Lough and Alex Stein. Schaffner Press. 236 pages. $16.95. Last Aphorisms, by JPJ.

An aphorism is a short or pithy statement that expresses a general truth. Some aphorisms are truisms, obvious on their face, but they still convey useful ideas. One of the best known aphorisms is Ben ...

Aphorism is from a Greek word and means to define. It is generally a one-liner used tersely to convey a perspective in a way that once bitten by it you are seldom likely to forget it in a hurry. Some ...

The aphorism has fallen so badly out of favour that even the word itself now seems to present people with difficulties. After a reading the other week, a girl told me how much she was "looking forward ...