Aphorism

An aphorism is a short, complete and profound statement that expresses in a terse, polished form a generalised thought, life wisdom or original observation. An aphorism is distinguished by laconism, semantic capaciousness, perfection of form and often paradoxicality, which makes it easy to memorise. Aphorisms may be authorial (literary) or folk; they sum up experience, prompt reflection, influence convictions. In literature aphoristic quality is a mark of a high culture of language and of the philosophical depth of a work; masters of the aphorism were Hryhorii Skovoroda, Ivan Franko and Lesya Ukrainka. The aphorism borders on the sententia, the maxim and the proverb and is a subject of stylistics, rhetoric and paremiology.