Aphorism (pronounced af-uh-riz-uhm)
An
original, laconic phrase conveying some principle or concept of thought.
1520s: From
the late Middle English aphorism (concise statement of a principle (especially
in reference to the Aphorisms of
Hippocrates)), from the Middle French aphorisme, from the (mistaken)
fourteenth century Old French aufforisme, from the Late Latin aphorismus
(definition), from the Ancient Greek ἀφορισμός
(aphorismós) (definition; short, pithy sentence containing a general truth), from aphorizein (to mark off, divide), from from ἀφορίζω (aphorízō) (I define, mark off or
determine), the construct being ἀπό (apó)
(off) + ὁρίζω
(horízō) (I divide, bound), from ὅρος
(hóros) (boundary) (from which English gained horizon). Aphorism is a noun
& verb, aphorist is a noun, aphorismic & aphorismatic are adjectives
and aphoristically is an adverb; the noun plural is aphorisms.
The idea
of the aphorism as a “short, pithy statement containing a truth of general application”
gained currency in English from the 1580s.
Despite the long history, some confusion seems always to accompany aphorisms,
axioms, theories, epigrams and maxims. An
aphorism is a short, pithy statement containing a truth of general import; an axiom
is a statement of self-evident truth; a theorem is a demonstrable proposition
in science or mathematics; an epigram is like an aphorism, but lacking a generalized application. Maxim can be often
used as a synonym for aphorism while saying applies to just about any generally
used piece of text.
Hippocrate refusant les présents d'Artaxerxès (1792), oil on canvas by Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson (1767–1824), Museum of the History of Medicine, Paris.
The
word became widely known in the sixteenth century when a translation was
published of the Hippocratic Corpus (the
Hippocratic Collection), a compilation of some dozens of medical texts with
some association with the physician Hippocrates (circa 460–370 BC), the sayings
remembered as the Aphorisms of
Hippocrates, a series of propositions about medicine. His opening aphorism (which flavors the
whole) was: Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience deceptive,
judgment difficult.
Handy
Aphorisms
The second half of a man’s life is made up of
nothing, but the habits he has accumulated during the first half. Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881)
Man must be disciplined, for he is by nature raw
and wild. Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)
The more I know the nature of men, the more I
seek the company of dogs. Frederick the Great (1712–1786)
In the natural state of nature, the life of man
will be nasty, solitary, brutish and short. Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
For everything you do, there’s a price to be paid. Epictetus (circa 50–135 AD)
The nice thing about being a celebrity is that
when you bore people, they think it`s their fault. Henry Kissinger (b 1923)
The first method for estimating the intelligence
of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him. Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527)
The more I see the face of the German cavalry
officer, the more I admire his horse. Ferdinand
Foch (1851–1929)
We mustn't count our chickens before they're hatched. Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)
There are no eternal facts, as there are no
absolute truths. Friedrich
Nietzsche (1844–1900)
I'm my own worst enemy and I know that. I live without regrets. When someone tells me
not to do something, I'll do it more.
There are certain things I have done, mistakes that I made, that I would
change, but I don't regret them at all, because I've learnt from them. Lindsay Lohan (b 1986)
When you say that you agree with a thing in
principle you mean that you have not the slightest intention of carrying it out
in practice. Otto von
Bismarck (1815-1898)
To know the character of a man of forty, look at
the world he knew when he was twenty. Napoleon
Bonaparte (1769-1821)
Don’t worry about avoiding temptation... as you
grow older, it will avoid you. Winston Churchill
(1875-1965)
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