Oxford Book of Aphorisms

List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $13.14
You Save: $6.81 (34%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.44 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Book Summary Information

Book Reviews of Oxford Book of Aphorisms

Book Review: Serve up some wisdom on your coffee table
Summary: 5 Stars

An aphorism is defined as "a short, pithy statement containing a truth of general import." In the introduction to this volume John Gross offers several distinguishing characteristics of the aphorism. Though the term `maxim' is often used as its synonym, an aphorism is considered more speculative, and sometimes more subversive than a maxim. While aphorisms offer insights and wisdom, they differ from proverbs in that they are not apocryphal. And while they are universal, they also generally bear the personal mark of the author.

Goethe, Nietzsche, Chekhov, Voltaire, Spinoza, Wilde, Yeats, James...but a few of the authors included in this book.

To give a flavor of the kinds of entries, consider these from the chapter on religion.

"Probably no invention came more easily to man than Heaven."

"Heathen, n. A benighted creature who has the folly to worship something that he can see and feel."

"If God created us in his own image, we have more than reciprocated."

And if you don't like those, there are fifty other chapters to choose from.

Summary of Oxford Book of Aphorisms

Literature & Fiction Books

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction
• Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses