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An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός aphorismos, "delimitation") is a terse saying, expressing a general truth, principle, or astute observation, and spoken or written in a laconic and memorable form. Aphorism literally means a "distinction" or "definition". The term was first used in the Aphorisms of Hippocrates. The oft-cited first sentence of this work (see Ars longa, vita brevis) is:
Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience deceptive, judgement difficult.
The term was later applied to maxims of physical science, then statements of all kinds of philosophical, moral, or literary principles. In modern usage an aphorism is generally understood to be a concise statement containing a subjective truth or observation, cleverly and pithily written.
A well-known example is
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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 Hadith, 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 Brueghel the Elder, artfully depicts a land populated with literal renditions of Flemish aphorisms (proverbs) of the day.
The aphoristic genre developed together with literacy, and after the invention of printing, aphorisms were collected and published in book form. The first noted published collection of aphorisms is Adagia by Erasmus of Rotterdam. 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 Stanislaw Jerzy Lec (in Polish), and Itch of Wisdom by Mikhail Turovsky (in Russian and English).
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.
- Sakya Pandita. A Tibetan spiritual leader and Buddhist scholar of XIII century. He is best known for his works such as the Treasury of Logic on Valid Cognition (Tshad ma rigs pa'i gter) and the Discrimination of the Three Vows (sDom-gsum rab-dbye).
- Shota Rustaveli. A 12th-13th-century Georgian poet. He is one of the greatest contributors to Georgian literature. He is author of The Knight in the Panther's Skin (ვეფხისტყაოსანი, Vepxist'q'aosani), the Georgian national epic poem.
- Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena. A Spanish medieval writer. The second, third and forth part of his famous work El Conde Lucanor are collection of aphorisms.
- François de La Rochefoucauld is a noted French author of maxims and memoirs. It is said that his world-view was clear-eyed and urbane, and that he neither condemned human conduct nor sentimentally celebrated it.
- Oscar Wilde
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- George Bernard Shaw
- Stanisław Jerzy Lec
- Karl Kraus
- Emil Cioran
- Edmond Jabès
- Malcolm de Chazal
- Andrzej Majewski
- Alexander Woollcott
- Faina Ranevskaya
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- Book of Proverbs
- Wisdom of Sirach
- Gospel of Thomas
- Definition of aphorism from the Online Etymology Dictionary
- Заголовок: (2003-06-30). ЗАЛОЖНИК ВЕЧНОСТИ Михаил Туровский/ЗАЛОЖНИК ВЕЧНОСТИ Михаил Туровский (in Russian). Peoples.ru. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
- The Government of Tibet in Exile. The Sakya Tradition. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aphorism". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Morley, John (1887). Aphorisms — an address delivered before the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution, November 11, 1887. London: MacMillan & Co.