Aphorists

An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tradition from generation to generation.

The concept is generally distinct from those of an adage, brocard, chiasmus, epigram, maxim (legal or philosophical), principle, proverb, and saying; although some of these concepts may be construed as types of aphorism.

Often, aphorisms are distinguished from other short sayings by the need for interpretation to make sense of them. In ''A Theory of the Aphorism'', Andrew Hui defined an aphorism as "a short saying that requires interpretation."

History

The word was first used in the ''Aphorisms'' of Hippocrates, a long series of propositions concerning the symptoms and diagnosis of disease and the art of healing and medicine. The often cited first sentence of this work is: "" - "life is short, art is long", usually reversed in order (see Ars longa, vita brevis).

This aphorism was later applied or adapted to physical science and then morphed into multifarious aphorisms of philosophy, morality, and literature. Currently an aphorism is generally understood to be a concise and eloquent statement of truth.

Aphorisms are distinct from axioms: aphorisms generally originate from experience and custom, whereas axioms are self-evident truths and therefore require no additional proof. Aphorisms have been especially used in subjects to which no methodical or scientific treatment was originally applied, such as agriculture, medicine, jurisprudence and politics.

A famous example is:

Literature

Aphoristic collections, sometimes known as wisdom literature, have a prominent place in the canons of several ancient societies, such as the Sutra literature of India, the Biblical Ecclesiastes, Islamic hadiths, the golden verses of Pythagoras, Hesiod's ''Works and Days'', the Delphic maxims, and Epictetus' Handbook. Aphoristic collections also make up an important part of the work of some modern authors. A 1559 oil–on–oak-panel painting, ''Netherlandish Proverbs'' (also called ''The Blue Cloak'' or ''The Topsy Turvy World'') by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, artfully depicts a land populated with literal renditions of Flemish aphorisms (proverbs) of the day.

The first noted published collection of aphorisms is ''Adagia'' by Erasmus. Other important early aphorists were Baltasar Gracián, François de La Rochefoucauld and Blaise Pascal.

Two influential collections of aphorisms published in the twentieth century were ''The Uncombed Thoughts'' by Stanisław Jerzy Lec (in Polish), and ''Itch of Wisdom'' by Mikhail Turovsky (in Russian and English).

Society

Many societies have traditional sages or culture heroes to whom aphorisms are commonly attributed, such as the Seven Sages of Greece, Confucius or King Solomon.

Misquoted or misadvised aphorisms are frequently used as a source of humour; for instance, wordplays of aphorisms appear in the works of P. G. Wodehouse, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. Aphorisms being misquoted by sports players, coaches, and commentators form the basis of Private Eye's Colemanballs section.

Philosophy

Professor of Humanities Andrew Hui, author of ''A Theory of the Aphorism'' offered the following definition of an aphorism: "a short saying that requires interpretation." Hui showed that some of the earliest philosophical texts from traditions around the world used an aphoristic style. Some of the earliest texts in the western philosophical canon feature short statements requiring interpretation, as seen in the Pre-Socratics like Heraclitus and Parmenides. In early Hindu literature, the Vedas were composed of many aphorisms. Likewise, in early Chinese philosophy, Taoist texts like the Tao Te Ching and the Confucian Analects relied on an aphoristic style. Francis Bacon, Blaise Pascal, Desiderius Erasmus, and Friedrich Nietzsche rank among some of the most notable philosophers who employed them in the modern era.

Andrew Hui argued that aphorisms played an important role in the history of philosophy, influencing the favored mediums of philosophical traditions. He argued for example, that the Platonic Dialogues served as a response to the difficult to interpret fragments and phrases which Pre-Socratic philosophers were famous for. Hui proposes that aphorisms often arrive before, after, or in response to more systematic argumentative philosophy. For example, aphorisms may come before a systematic philosophy, because the systematic philosophy consists of the attempt to interpret and explain the aphorisms, as he argues is the case with Confucianism. Alternately, aphorisms may be written against systematic philosophy, as a form of challenge or irreverence, as seen in Nietzsche's work. Lastly, aphorisms may come after or following systematic philosophy, as was the case with Francis Bacon, who sought to bring an end to old ways of thinking.

Aphorists

* Theodor W. Adorno: his '' Minima Moralia: Reflections from Damaged Life'' (German: ''Minima Moralia: Reflexionen aus dem beschädigten Leben'') is a collection of aphorisms and reflections written while in exile in the United States during World War II.
* Georges Bataille
* Jean Baudrillard
* Ambrose Bierce: ''The Devil's Dictionary''.
*F. H. Bradley
* Robert Brault
* Emil Cioran
* Arkady Davidowitz
* Nicolás Gómez Dávila
* Malcolm de Chazal
* Desiderius Erasmus
* Gustave Flaubert: '' Dictionary of Received Ideas''.
* Benjamin Franklin
* Robert A. Heinlein: ''The Notebooks of Lazarus Long''.
* Edmond Jabès
* Joseph Joubert
* Franz Kafka
* Karl Kraus
* François de La Rochefoucauld
* Stanisław Jerzy Lec
* Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
* Andrzej Majewski
* Juan Manuel: Prince of Villena (Spain) and mediaeval author; the second, third and fourth parts of his famous work ''El Conde Lucanor'' are collections of aphorisms.
* Friedrich Nietzsche
* Oiva Paloheimo
* Dorothy Parker
* Patanjali
* Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
* Faina Ranevskaya
* Arthur Schopenhauer
*Seneca the Younger: Roman Stoic philosopher.
* George Bernard Shaw
* Lev Shestov
* Nassim Nicholas Taleb: The Bed of Procrustes
* Mikhail Turovsky
* Lao Tze
* Voltaire
*Wasif Ali Wasif: A Pakistani writer, poet and Sufi intellectual, known as master of Aphorism
* Oscar Wilde
*George Santayana
* Alexander Woollcott
* Burchard of Worms: mediaeval Catholic priest and canonist.
* Cheng Yen: ''Jing Si Aphorism''. (Buddhism)

See also

* Adage
* ''Adagia'' by Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus
* apothegm
* Brocard
* Chiasmus
* Cliché
* Epigram
* Epitaph
* French moralists
* ''Gospel of Thomas''
* Greguería
* Legal maxim
* Mahavakya
* Maxim
* Proverb
* Pseudo-Phocylides
* Sacred Scripture:
** ''Book of Proverbs''
** ''Ecclesiastes''
** '' Hidden Words''
** ''Wisdom of Sirach''
* Saying
* Sūtra
* The Triads of Ireland, and the Welsh Triads

References

Further reading

*
* Gopnik, Adam, "Brevity, Soul, Wit: The art of the aphorism" (includes discussion of Andrew Hui, ''A Theory of the Aphorism: From Confucius to Twitter'', Princeton, 2019), ''The New Yorker'', 22 July 2019, pp. 67–69. "The aphorism ..is ..always an epitome, and seeks an essence. The ability to elide the extraneous is what makes the aphorism bite, but the possibility of inferring backward to a missing text is what makes the aphorism poetic." (p.69.)
*

External links

*
Commentary on Hippocrates' Aphorisms

{{Authority control

Narrative techniques
Paremiology
Phrases