Oxford Book of Aphorisms (Oxford Books of Prose)

Good copy, as advertised, that arrived quite promptly.

The book is dark verging on sardonic, reflecting the dark, sardonic nature of the best epigrams of our age. I was inspired to respond in the margins to a number of them, and I can't think of a better response to epigrams in general, than for them to get under your prickly skin to the extent that you might write your own ironic counterstatements. Bloodshed begets bloodshed, and so we might say (ironically) that this sort of bitterness begets bitterness. But it may very well be the most brilliant bitterness you've known.Some of my favorite quotes with my responses--representative in the extreme:"Where they burn books they will also in the end burn human bodies"--Heine, <<Almansor: A Tragedy>>, 1823"Where they burn human beings, they will also, in the end, burn the wrong book"--Eucaleh Terrapin"A secret may sometimes be best kept by keeping the secret of its being a secret"--Sir Henry Taylor, <<The Statesman>>, 1823"Thus the wisest proverb is common sense"--Eucaleh Terrapin"Freedom produces jokes, and jokes produce freedom"--Jean Paul Richter, Introduction to Aesthetics, 1823"But to be witty is to be serious about other comedians"--Eucaleh Terrapin

John Gross has assembled a phenomenal collection of aphorisms. His introduction is concise and insightful and the selection truly diverse, representing writers from every age and from many backgrounds. The book is far from exhaustive, but it serves as a springboard for the interested reader to sample more from the author's writings and the vast repositories of quotations available on-line. For those seeking inspiration, sayings for toastmasters, or simple wit there are other compelling alternatives, however, for those wishing to experience a taste and the insights of the best aphorisms ever written, the Oxford anthology is simply the best.

I just didn't get most of them and the vocabulary is so strange your not going to be able to understand a lot of it, Just a show off who looks up the most difficult word in the dictionary , then uses it. Any actual benefit from this book will be an accident. it sucks

A great reference book. If you are writing a book or just need cute sayings, or famous quotes this is an ideal book. The hardback version is what you need as I have in this version.

My wife is a text book writer and has found this gift text to be quite valuable. Recommended

Good condition. Warn a bit as I expected. All was as described. Good value

I have been a fan of collections of quotations forever, despite the mockery of serious students. I have quite a few of these collections. This one was recommended somewhere, so I picked it up. Apparently the publisher wanted to dodge the highfalutin' scorn by calling these "aphorisms" but they're just quotations, like any other book of quotations.And the book just didn't do it for me. None of the quotes were particularly interesting, certainly not insightful, and never clever. So why are some people recommending the book?I found a clue in the "Religion" section. The selections in this section ran the gamut from moderate hatred of religion to extreme hatred of religion. That's a heck of a gamut. Obviously we're dealing with a specific audience with a definable attitude and mindset.So if you hate religion or just hate God, and life kind of sucks, this is definitely the book for you.

本書は、The Spectartorや The Gardianに “the best-read man in Britain”と評され、ジャーナリスト（作家・批評家・編集者など）として二足以上の草鞋を穿いた「知の巨人」John Gross (1935 – 2011) の手に成る名言集である。古今東西の名言が Life, Nature, Religion, Mankind, The Family, Friends & Foes, Sympathies & Antipathies, Good & Evil, Happiness & Sorrow, Young & Old, Truth & False, Death など57のタイトルの元に分類され、それぞれに作者名、掲載書、発表年などが明記されている。機知に富んだ金言が満載の本書は、まさに寸鉄の宝箱と言える。

Find this quite interesting. Adding to my Roget's and other books about quotes. Sometimes have to write articles and this sort of thing is useful.

アフォリズム、名言を約2500集めて600余りのトピックに分類した名言集。中には意味がよく分からないのもあるが、ほとんどが心をドキッとさせる名言集。(Wrongs are oftenest forgiven, but contempt never is. Our pride remembers it forever.悪事はしばしば許される。しかし軽蔑は許されることはない。われわれのプライドが決してそれを忘れることはないから)。Good swimmers are oftenest drowned.(良き泳者ほどよくおぼれて死ぬ)。暇なときに拾い読みすると賢者になれそう。

good

When I was a child, I used to rummage among my father's library. Many of the books didn't interest me in the slightest for he loved sports, interior decorating, fiction, cookery: All topics which to this day bore me senseless. But then of all the books he had was one of Aphorisms and Maxims. I don't know its title to this day but I can vividly remember loving that book more than any other in his collection. The Oxford Book Of Aphorisms is just such a book. A book of wisdom condensed into a multitude of pithy sentences. If you want to learn about the meaning of life and how to live then you could do a lot worse than spend some time reading this very book. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to know what life is all about. For the wisdom contained in this book is certainly timeless, ageless and most indispensable.