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The Viking Book of Aphorisms
A glittering anthology of 3,000 of the wisest, wittiest, most profound bon mots ever. More than 400 great savants, including Wilde, Goethe, Thoreau, Nietzsche, and Bacon lend eloquent insights into science, the sexes, habit, old age, truth, politics and all the other vital aspects of the human condition. An index of authors and a key-word index make it easy to find aphorisms either by source or by particular topic. But the reader who just dips into this book anywhere will find a feast of insight, illumination and wit. A classic in its field.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published November 26, 1962
About the author
Louis Kronenberger
130 books1 followerLouis Kronenberger (1904–1980) was an American literary critic and author.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 17, 2016
Do you want to read a book of aphorisms? If yes, this is a good book for you.
At some point during undergrad I was walking around the public library, exploring the stacks when I was supposed to be researching the Gunpowder Plot. I do not recall why I was in the public library instead of the University Library. In all honesty both institutions are well meaning and underfunded. I stumbled across a copy of A Certain World: A Commonplace Book by W. H. Auden. I looked through it for maybe half an hour. I don't know why, but I never checked it out. I've just looked and an old hardback edition is over a hundred dollars on Amazon. A few years later, on a wordpress blog I cannot remember the name of, I wrote an entry about commonplace books. I was quite proud of it. A close friend of an ex-girlfriend commented on it. I never heard from the ex-girlfriend.
Maybe a decade later I returned to my interest in commonplace books through an interest in aphorisms. Being to unsure of my analytical skills to read philosophy monographs, aphorisms have become a way for me to get at some of the big ideas with silly one liners. A tattered copy of this collection of Aphorism, co-edited by Auden was under a dollar online and has been a constant companion for longer than the month reported here.
When does someone really finish a book? A guy I went to college with once told me that growing up meant learning to put down a book when it had taught you all it could. He was a pretentious asshole. I've dipped into this volume lots of times, and read about 4/5 of from front to back. It is heavy on early Modern/Victorian Englishmen, but I would gamble any collection of aphorisms in English would be. I have been most excited by Alexis de Tocqueville, Chesterton, Halifax, Emerson, and Thoreau. Often fresh perspectives on dusty old figures known for old tomes I've never read but talk about all the time.
I will continue to read, and copy out some of my favorites from this collection in blue ink into the journal I now keep, not quite a commonplace book, but who knows. It might do well to transform. Recommended.
At some point during undergrad I was walking around the public library, exploring the stacks when I was supposed to be researching the Gunpowder Plot. I do not recall why I was in the public library instead of the University Library. In all honesty both institutions are well meaning and underfunded. I stumbled across a copy of A Certain World: A Commonplace Book by W. H. Auden. I looked through it for maybe half an hour. I don't know why, but I never checked it out. I've just looked and an old hardback edition is over a hundred dollars on Amazon. A few years later, on a wordpress blog I cannot remember the name of, I wrote an entry about commonplace books. I was quite proud of it. A close friend of an ex-girlfriend commented on it. I never heard from the ex-girlfriend.
Maybe a decade later I returned to my interest in commonplace books through an interest in aphorisms. Being to unsure of my analytical skills to read philosophy monographs, aphorisms have become a way for me to get at some of the big ideas with silly one liners. A tattered copy of this collection of Aphorism, co-edited by Auden was under a dollar online and has been a constant companion for longer than the month reported here.
When does someone really finish a book? A guy I went to college with once told me that growing up meant learning to put down a book when it had taught you all it could. He was a pretentious asshole. I've dipped into this volume lots of times, and read about 4/5 of from front to back. It is heavy on early Modern/Victorian Englishmen, but I would gamble any collection of aphorisms in English would be. I have been most excited by Alexis de Tocqueville, Chesterton, Halifax, Emerson, and Thoreau. Often fresh perspectives on dusty old figures known for old tomes I've never read but talk about all the time.
I will continue to read, and copy out some of my favorites from this collection in blue ink into the journal I now keep, not quite a commonplace book, but who knows. It might do well to transform. Recommended.
August 14, 2008
It's like an encyclopedia of brilliant authors exuding brilliance. Aphorisms are kind of great. I particularly enjoyed the sections on God and Religion and Love.
October 5, 2023
“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot.” - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
This book is a selection of 3,000 aphorisms (not epigrams) from more than 400 authors.
The problem with aphorisms is that they like quotes from the Bible or Shakespeare stick with you, even when you do not remember who said it.
This book is fun to read from front to back; as a reference, it may be a tad lacking. The aphorisms are divided into arbitrary categories or chapters. The author of the aphorism is stated by the last name only. The source material is not mentioned. However, this is a starting place, and you can use the net to complete the missing information.
Example:
“When one is polite in German, one lies.” - GOETHE
FYI Einstein was not one of the selected.
This book is a selection of 3,000 aphorisms (not epigrams) from more than 400 authors.
The problem with aphorisms is that they like quotes from the Bible or Shakespeare stick with you, even when you do not remember who said it.
This book is fun to read from front to back; as a reference, it may be a tad lacking. The aphorisms are divided into arbitrary categories or chapters. The author of the aphorism is stated by the last name only. The source material is not mentioned. However, this is a starting place, and you can use the net to complete the missing information.
Example:
“When one is polite in German, one lies.” - GOETHE
FYI Einstein was not one of the selected.
October 8, 2023
“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot.” - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
This book is a selection of 3,000 aphorisms (not epigrams) from more than 400 authors.
The problem with aphorisms is that they like quotes from the Bible or Shakespeare stick with you, even when you do not remember who said it.
This book is fun to read from front to back; as a reference, it may be a tad lacking. The aphorisms are divided into arbitrary categories or chapters. The author of the aphorism is stated by the last name only. The source material is not mentioned. However, this is a starting place, and you can use the net to complete the missing information.
Example:
“When one is polite in German, one lies.” - GOETHE
FYI Einstein was not one of the selected.
This book is a selection of 3,000 aphorisms (not epigrams) from more than 400 authors.
The problem with aphorisms is that they like quotes from the Bible or Shakespeare stick with you, even when you do not remember who said it.
This book is fun to read from front to back; as a reference, it may be a tad lacking. The aphorisms are divided into arbitrary categories or chapters. The author of the aphorism is stated by the last name only. The source material is not mentioned. However, this is a starting place, and you can use the net to complete the missing information.
Example:
“When one is polite in German, one lies.” - GOETHE
FYI Einstein was not one of the selected.
December 22, 2014
Auden is one of my top favorites authors so it's fun to read his personal favorite quotes from other authors. Of course you'll probably already now most of the authors: Shakespeare, Proust, Rochefoucauld, Baudelaire, etc, etc.
January 29, 2009
Good stuff.
November 17, 2009
Excellent reference. Audens' taste is evident.
August 9, 2010
The only funny thing is that I was continually thinking of even more (and even better) quotes that should have been in here.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews