Comments on: Aphorisms - James Geary Books

Aphorisms - James Geary Books

McLir — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:28:45 -0800

Aphorisms: "A minimum of sound to a maximum of sense." [ram] Journalist, gnomologist and author James Geary has just released Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists [Amazon. recent NPR interview here]. It draws from such aphorists as Shakespeare, Voltaire, Emerson, Shaw, Mae West, Woody Allen and Steven Wright. Also discussed is chiasmus, the Jefferson Bible and some meta. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in your reading have been like the blast of triumph..."

... or as Michel de Montaigne put it, "I quote others only in order the better to express myself."

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:21:13 -0800

I see why Michel said that.

By: Poolio

Poolio — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:28:38 -0800

QFT.

By: one_bean

one_bean — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:33:23 -0800

Also from Emerson: "Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not say 'I think,' 'I am,' but quotes some saint or sage".

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:34:49 -0800

Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another. Ambrose Bierce - possibly one of the wryest aphorists ever.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:38:26 -0800

PRESENT, n. That part of eternity dividing the domain of disappointment from the realm of hope. - Bierce

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:39:51 -0800

War is God's way of teaching Americans geography - again. That was around a hundred years ago. Plus ca change...

By: McLir

McLir — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 23:43:43 -0800

Demotivators : "If a pretty poster and a cute saying are all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a very easy job. The kind robots will be doing soon."

By: rob511

rob511 — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:19:56 -0800

I once started a MetaChat thread on Proverbs for the New Millennium, e.g.:

• A fool and his money are soon spammed. • A penny saved is not subject to Swedish rounding.

It didn't go nowhere.

By: gwint

gwint — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:05:04 -0800

Aphorism!? I hardly know her!

By: Coventry

Coventry — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:44:30 -0800

As a kid, I was fond of Ashleigh Brilliant's aphorisms. They don't seem so hot now, though...

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:53:56 -0800

I'd like some champagne for my real friends and some real pain for my sham friends.

By: McLir

McLir — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 06:09:28 -0800

Nietzsche: "The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 09:02:00 -0800

I so want to agree with that.

By: shmegegge

shmegegge — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 09:11:27 -0800

this is awesome, but if you're going to provide a guide to the great aphorists, it's a bad idea to basically compile the entire Steven Wright album I Have a Pony. That's less of a guide and more of a Collected Works.

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:29:41 -0800

I started writing my own aphorisms a few years ago [self-post, duh]. Note: includes mildly NSFW pix. And of course, no discussion of aphorisms would be complete without mention of my inspiration, Eric Hoffer.

By: blacklite

blacklite — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:22:11 -0800

A ram file? wow, it's like 1996.