View source for Aphorism

{{short description|Figure of speech}}
{{Distinguish|Aphorismus}}
{{Redirect|Aphorisms|the album|Aphorisms (album){{!}}''Aphorisms'' (album)}}
An '''aphorism''' (from [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, [[laconic]], or memorable expression of a general [[truth]] or [[principle]].<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=aphorism Definition of ''Aphorism''] from the [[Online Etymology Dictionary]]</ref> Aphorisms are often handed down by [[tradition]] from generation to generation. 

The concept is generally distinct from those of an [[adage]], [[brocard (law)|brocard]], [[chiasmus]], [[epigram]], maxim ([[legal maxim|legal]] or [[maxim (philosophy)|philosophical]]), [[principle]], [[proverb]], and [[saying]]; although some of these concepts could 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".<ref name="hui">{{Cite book |last=Hui |first=Andrew |date=2019 |title=A Theory of the Aphorism: from Confucius to Twitter |location=Princeton, NJ |publisher=Princeton University Press |doi=10.23943/princeton/9780691188959.001.0001 |isbn=9780691188959 }}</ref> 

A famous example is:<ref>{{cite web |title=Heraclitus' Poetic Ideas |url=https://philosophy.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/122/2013/10/Heraclitus-Poetic-Ideas.pdf |website=University of North Carolina |access-date=26 October 2024}}</ref>

{{quote|You cannot step into the same river twice.|[[Heraclitus]]}}

==History==
The word was first used in the ''[[s:Aphorisms|Aphorisms]]'' of [[Hippocrates]], a long series of [[proposition]]s concerning the symptoms and diagnosis of [[disease]] and the art of healing and [[medicine]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Aphorism|volume=2|page=165}}</ref> The often-cited first sentence of this work  is: "{{lang|grc|Ὁ βίος βραχύς, δὲ τέχνη μακρή}}" – "life is short, art is long", usually reversed in order (''[[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 [[eloquence|eloquent]] statement of [[truth]]. 

Aphorisms are distinct from [[axiom]]s: aphorisms generally originate from experience and [[Norm (social)|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]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

==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 [[bible|Biblical]] [[Ecclesiastes]], [[Islam]]ic [[hadith]]s, [[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 ([[proverb]]s) 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 (writer)|François de La Rochefoucauld]], and [[Blaise Pascal]].

Two influential collections of aphorisms published in the twentieth century were ''Unkempt Thoughts'' by [[Stanisław Jerzy Lec]] (in Polish) and ''Itch of Wisdom'' by [[Mikhail Turovsky]] (in Russian and English).<ref>{{cite web|author=Заголовок |url=http://www.peoples.ru/art/painter/turovskiy/ |script-title=ru:ЗАЛОЖНИК ВЕЧНОСТИ Михаил Туровский/ЗАЛОЖНИК ВЕЧНОСТИ Михаил Туровский |publisher=Peoples.ru |date=2003-06-30 |access-date=2013-10-15|language=ru}}</ref>

==Society==
Many societies have traditional sages or [[culture hero]]es to whom aphorisms are commonly attributed, such as the [[Seven Sages of Greece]], [[Chanakya]], [[Confucius]], or [[King Solomon]].

Misquoted or misadvised aphorisms are frequently used as a source of [[humour]]; for instance, [[word play|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".<ref name="hui"/> 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-Socratic philosophy|Pre-Socratics]] like [[Heraclitus]] and [[Parmenides]]. In early Hindu literature, the [[Vedas]] were composed of many aphorisms. Likewise, in early Chinese philosophy, [[Taoism|Taoist]] texts like the [[Tao Te Ching]] and the [[Confucianism|Confucian]] [[Analects]] relied on an aphoristic style. [[Francis Bacon]], [[Blaise Pascal]], [[Erasmus|Desiderius Erasmus]], and [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] rank among some of the most notable philosophers who employed them in the [[Modernity|modern]] time.

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 of Plato|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.<ref name="hui"/> 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.<ref name="hui"/>

== <span id="Admitted aphorism authors"></span> Aphorists ==
{{Main|:Category:Aphorists}}
{{col div|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Theodor W. Adorno]] (''[[Minima Moralia|Minima Moralia: Reflections from Damaged Life]]'')
* [[Georges Bataille]]
* [[Jean Baudrillard]]
* [[Ambrose Bierce]] (''[[The Devil's Dictionary]]'')
* [[George E. P. Box]]
* [[F. H. Bradley]]
* [[Burchard of Worms]]
* [[Malcolm de Chazal]]
* [[Cheng Yen]] (''Jing Si Aphorism'')
* [[Emil Cioran]]
* [[Arkady Davidowitz]]
* [[Nicolás Gómez Dávila]] (''[[Escolios a un texto implícito]]'')
* [[Desiderius Erasmus]]
* [[Gustave Flaubert]] (''[[Dictionary of Received Ideas]]'')
* [[Benjamin Franklin]]
* [[Andrzej Maksymilian Fredro]]
* [[Jan Greshoff]]
* [[Robert A. Heinlein]] (''[[The Notebooks of Lazarus Long]]'')
* [[Edmond Jabès]]
* [[Tomáš Janovic]]
* [[Joseph Joubert]]
* [[Franz Kafka]]
* [[Karl Kraus (writer)|Karl Kraus]]
* [[Lao Tze]]
* [[Stanisław Jerzy Lec]]
* [[Georg Christoph Lichtenberg]]
* [[Andrzej Majewski]]
* [[Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena|Juan Manuel]] (the second, third and fourth parts of his famous work ''[[El Conde Lucanor]]''){{cn|date=January 2018}}
* [[Mark Miremont]]
* [[Friedrich Nietzsche]]
* [[Oiva Paloheimo]]
* [[Dorothy Parker]]
* [[Patanjali]]
* [[Petar II Petrović-Njegoš]]
* [[Faina Ranevskaya]]
* [[François de La Rochefoucauld (writer)|François de La Rochefoucauld]]
* [[George Santayana]]
* [[Arthur Schopenhauer]]
* [[Seneca the Younger]]{{cn|date=January 2018}}
* [[George Bernard Shaw]]
* [[Lev Shestov]]
* [[Sun Tzu]]
* [[Nassim Nicholas Taleb]] (''[[The Bed of Procrustes]]'')
* [[Mikhail Turovsky]]
* [[Mark Twain]]
* [[Voltaire]]
* [[Wasif Ali Wasif]]
* [[Oscar Wilde]]
* [[Alexander Woollcott]]
* [[Joan Fuster]]
{{colend}}

==See also==
{{Wikiquote|Aphorisms}}
{{Wikisource|Aphorisms}}
{{col div|colwidth=20em}}
* ''[[Adagia]]'' by [[Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus]]
* {{anl|Brocard (law)|Brocard}}
* {{anl|Chiasmus}}
* {{anl|Epigram}}
* {{anl|Epitaph}}
* {{anl|French moralists}}
* {{anl|Gospel of Thomas|''Gospel of Thomas''}}
* {{lang|es|[[Greguería]]}}
* {{anl|Legal maxim}}
* {{anl|Mahavakya}}
* {{anl|Maxim (philosophy)|Maxim}}
* {{anl|Proverb}}
* {{anl|Pseudo-Phocylides}}
* [[Sacred Scripture]]:
** {{anl|Book of Proverbs|''Book of Proverbs''}}
** {{anl|Ecclesiastes|''Ecclesiastes''}}
** {{anl|Hidden Words|''Hidden Words''}}
** {{anl|Wisdom of Sirach|''Wisdom of Sirach''}}
* {{anl|Saying}}
* {{anl|Sūtra}}
* The [[Triads of Ireland]], and the [[Welsh Triads]]
{{colend}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Geary|first=James|author-link=James Geary|title=The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism|date=2005|publisher=Bloomsbury|location=New York|isbn=9781608197620}}
* [[Adam Gopnik|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 [[poetry|poetic]]."  (p.69.)
* {{cite Q|Q19045853}}<!-- Aphorisms — an address delivered before the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution, November 11, 1887 -->

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
* {{in lang|en|ar}} [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/4290/ Commentary on Hippocrates' Aphorisms]

{{Figures of speech}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Aphorisms| ]]
[[Category:Narrative techniques]]
[[Category:Paremiology]]
[[Category:Phrases]]