Volume 30, Number 11 · June 30, 1983
Cracks in the Universe
By D.J. Enright
The Oxford Book of Aphorisms
chosen by John Gross
Oxford University Press,, 393 pp., $15.95
We know what an 'Oxford Book' is, but what exactly is an 'aphorism'? Etymologically the word is traced to the Greek for 'setting a boundary,' 'defining.' It is impossible to set precise boundaries but we might propose, as a broad definition, that aphorisms convey general truths or tenets while epigrams tend to be more specific in occasion and more personal in application (often aimed at somebody's bad habits) and maxims offer moral advice ('Neither a borrower nor a lender be') trotted out, as John Gross has it, 'in the spirit of Polonius.' Aphorisms incline to be subversive, and 'indeed, it is often a maxim that they set out to subvert.' What most significantly distinguishes them from proverbs is that they are not anonymous: as opposed to what we call the 'proverbial style,' they bear or ought to bear 'the stamp and style' of the minds that created them. They are in that sense personal.
Review, 2233 words
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