The Oxford Book of Aphorisms

by JohnGross (Compiler)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1983

  $5.85

  The dictionary defines aphorism as a short pithy statement or maxim, but beneath this definition lies a wealth of wit and insight to which neither the word nor any brief description can do justice. This delightful anthology demonstrates just how rewarding the aphorism can be and how brilliantly the aphorist can illuminate a hidden truth or reveal the ironies of life. Whatever the situation, whatever the mood, the reader will find in this international array of aphorisms just the right words to give his or her feeling pungent expression. The classic aphorists--La Bruyere, Nietzsche, both Samuel Butlers, La Rochefoucault, Emerson--are here in abundance, as are the philosophers from the Greeks of Paul Valery, the social commentators from Edmund Burke to Walter Benjamin. Statesmen and scientists, Olympians and gadflies, mystics and boulevardiers--this collection brings together the most diverse figures, drawing freely on ancients and moderns, on the widsom of East and West, juxtaposing viewpoints as different as those of Jean Cocteau and George Orwell, Ambrose Bierce and Marcus Aurelius, Lord Chesterfield and Elias Canetti. Profound, provocative, and vastly entertaining, The Oxford Book of Aphorisms will lure the reader back to its pages time and again. The book is fully indexed, and wherever possible, sources, dates, and complete names are supplied.

• Used

  Paperback
  1987

  $3.28

  This anthology demonstrates just how rewarding an art-form the aphorism can be, and just how brilliantly the aphorist can reveal the hidden truths or ironies of existence. Containing the wit and wisdom of such writers and philosophers as Marcus Aurelius, La Rochefoucauld, Dr Johnson, Oscar Wilde, Bertrand Russell, and Virginia Woolf, the collection considers the most important human emotions and endeavours, from folly and fame to desire and death. But as the inclusion of a wide variety of statesmen, scientists, boulevardiers, Olympians, and gadflies proves, such luminaries are not alone in the coining of memorable maxims. This book is intended for readers of anthologies, quotations books. Gift book market.