“ He would stab his best friend for the sake of writing an epigram on his tombstone. ”
- Oscar Wilde- Copy
- 1.4K
“ Anyone can tell the truth, but only very few of us can make epigrams. ”
- W. Somerset Maugham- Copy
- 572
“ An epigram is a flashlight of a truth; a witticism, truth laughing at itself. ”
- Minna Thomas Antrim- Copy
- 3.9K
“ What is an epigram? A dwarfish whole, its body brevity, and wit its soul. ”
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge- Copy
- 1.2K
“ Thou art so witty, profligate and thin, At once we think thee Satan, Death and Sin. ”
- Edward Young- Copy
- 2.9K
“ An aphorism can never be the whole truth; it is either a half-truth or a truth-and-a-half. ”
- Karl Kraus- Copy
- 1.5K
“ Exclusively of the abstract sciences, the largest and worthiest portion of our knowledge consists of aphorisms: and the greatest and best of men is but an aphorism. ”
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge- Copy
- 2.9K
“ He had a wonderful talent for packing thought close, and rendering it portable. ”
- Thomas B. Macaulay- Copy
- 759
“ In the mountains the shortest route is from peak to peak, but for that you must have long legs. Aphorisms should be peaks: and those to whom they are spoken should be big and tall of stature. ”
- Friedrich Nietzsche- Copy
- 3.1K
“ It is the nature of aphoristic thinking to be always in a state of concluding; a bid to have the final word is inherent in all powerful phrase-making. ”
- Susan Sontag- Copy
- 1.1K
“ Sir Drake whom well the world's end knew Which thou did'st compass round, And whom both Poles of heaven once saw Which North and South do bound, The stars above would make thee known, If men here silent were; The sun himself cannot forget His fellow traveller. ”
- John Owen- Copy
- 3.3K
“ You complain, Velox, that the epigrams which I write are long. You yourself write nothing; your attempts are shorter. ”
- Marcus Valerius Martial- Copy
- 3.6K
“ The book which you are reading aloud is mine, Fidentinus; but, while you read it so badly, it begins to be yours. ”
- Marcus Valerius Martial- Copy
- 1K
“ They are the guiding oracles which man has found out for himself in that great business of ours, of learning how to be, to do, to do without, and to depart. ”
- John Morley- Copy
- 1.7K
“ What's this that myrrh doth still smell in thy kiss, And that with thee no other odour is? 'Tis doubt, my Postumus, he that doth smell So sweetly always, smells not very well. ”
- Marcus Valerius Martial- Copy
- 3.5K
“ You are too free spoken," is your constant remark to me, Choerilus. He who speaks against you, Choerilus, is indeed a free speaker. ”
- Marcus Valerius Martial- Copy
- 2.6K
“ Lycoris has buried all the female friends she had, Fabianus: would she were the friend of my wife! ”
- Marcus Valerius Martial- Copy
- 2K
“ You were constantly, Matho, a guest at my villa at Tivoli. Now you buy it — I have deceived you; I have merely sold you what was already your own. ”
- Marcus Valerius Martial- Copy
- 4K
“ You put fine dishes on your table, Olus, but you always put them on covered. This is ridiculous; in the same way I could put fine dished on my table. ”
- Marcus Valerius Martial- Copy
- 2.9K
“ And have you been able, Flaccus, to see the slender Thais? Then, Flaccus, I suspect you can see what is invisible. ”
- Marcus Valerius Martial- Copy
- 2.5K
“ When to secure your bald pate from the weather, You lately wore a cape of black neats' leather; He was a very wag, who to you said, "Why do you wear your slippers on your head? ”
- Marcus Valerius Martial- Copy
- 2.8K
“ See how the mountain goat hangs from the summit of the cliff; you would expect it to fall; it is merely showing its contempt for the dogs. ”
- Marcus Valerius Martial- Copy
- 1.8K
“ Never think of leaving perfumes or wine to your heir. Administer these yourself, and let him have your money. ”
- Marcus Valerius Martial- Copy
- 4K
“ I don't deserve this, but I have arthritis, and I don't deserve that either. ”
- Jack Benny- Copy
- 2.2K
“ An epigram often flashes light into regions where reason shines but dimly. ”
- Edwin P. Whipple- Copy
- 3.4K
“ No Christian and, indeed, no historian could accept the epigram which defines religion as 'what a man does with his solitude.'. ”
- C. S. Lewis- Copy
- 2.3K
“ A brilliant epigram is a solemn platitude gone to a masquerade ball. ”
- Lionel Strachey- Copy
- 1.8K
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