{"id":12283,"date":"2026-05-03T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/?p=12283"},"modified":"2026-04-30T13:28:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T20:28:51","slug":"a-long-forgotten-book-of-aphorisms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/books\/a-long-forgotten-book-of-aphorisms\/","title":{"rendered":"A Long Forgotten Book of Aphorisms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That evening I\u2019d come down to change the furnace filter and found the furnace room dark. In fact, the light socket was empty. Hmm. How\u2019d that happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No worry. I keep light bulbs of all description in a large plastic container in the hallway closet nearby. It\u2019s on a high shelf, so I had to pull it down and place it on the guest bed so I could look through it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easy enough. But as soon as I put the box on the bed, I was distracted by the two bookshelves a mere three steps away. What\u2019s the use of having books if you don\u2019t look through them now and then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After a quick inspection, I found at the far end of the second shelf a book a didn\u2019t recognize. The Viking Book of Aphorisms.<\/em> It was published in 1962 and marked down to $6.95 by Barnes and Noble. The pages looked untouched. Obviously. Who ever gets around to looking at more than 3000 aphorisms?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I glanced at the first section and decided to take the book upstairs with me after I replaced the light bulb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t talk about aphorisms much anymore. So, I looked online for a definition. An aphorism is not just a famous quotation. It should also be concise, pithy, memorable, and wise\/witty, as well as expressing a universal truth.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next morning, I started with the first section: THE HUMAN CREATURE. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

No one hates his body. \u2013Saint Augustine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imprisoned in every fat man, a thin one is wildly signaling to be let out. \u2013Connelly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To live is like to love\u2014all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct is for it. \u2013Samuel Butler<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no freedom for the weak \u2013Meredith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A man\u2019s worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes. \u2013T.H. Huxley<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I noticed that many of the aphorisms had a negative view of the \u201chuman animal\u201d. The worst, though, were from the Russians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

In nature a repulsive caterpillar turns into a lovely butterfly. But with human beings it is the other way round: a lovely butterfly turns into a repulsive caterpillar. — Chekov<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shower upon him every blessing, drown him in a sea of happiness, give him economic prosperity, such that he should have nothing else to do but sleep, eat cakes, and busy himself with the continuation of his species, and even then, out of sheer ingratitude, sheer spite, man would play you some nasty trick. He would even risk his cakes, and would deliberately desire the most fatal rubbish, the utmost economic absurdity, simply to introduce into all this positive good sense his fatal fantastic element. — Dostoevsky<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I skimmed through a few more sections and marked some of the best aphorisms. Then, with more than 2900 to go, I closed the book and put it back downstairs. Maybe in a couple of years I\u2019ll take it out again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P.S. Happy May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
from a walk along the Edmonds waterfront<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That evening I\u2019d come down to change the furnace filter and found the furnace room dark. In fact, the light socket was empty. Hmm. How\u2019d that happen? No worry. I keep light bulbs of all description in a large plastic container in the hallway closet nearby. It\u2019s on a high shelf, so I had to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[743,2205],"tags":[2775,2781,2782,2783,2779,2776,2777,2778,2780],"class_list":["post-12283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-reading","tag-aphorisms","tag-chekov","tag-dostoevsky","tag-may","tag-meredith","tag-old-books","tag-saint-augustine","tag-samuel-butler","tag-t-h-huxley"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-3c7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7560,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/writing\/a-snowbound-writers-retreat\/","url_meta":{"origin":12283,"position":0},"title":"A Snowbound Writer’s Retreat","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"February 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Writers sometimes dream of getting away to a quiet place where they can write. 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Daughter #3 is known to be neat and hardworking, so naturally she stripped the beds and started the washer and dryer before they left.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"bookcase in study","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_4372-e1704317412198.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6565,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/home\/6565\/","url_meta":{"origin":12283,"position":2},"title":"Bookcases and Hot Air Balloons","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"October 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 This past weekend I drove across the mountains to spend some time with my daughter, T, on her birthday. When I left home on the coast, it was raining, sprinkling when I reached the pass. Even with the sprinkles, there was enough sunshine to bring out the colors. 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I had other\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "home"","block_context":{"text":"home","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/home\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"by Matthew Lupoli","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Creaturefromtheblacklagoon-By-Matthew-Lupoli-Matthew-Lupoli-Public-Domain-httpscommons.wikimedia.orgwindex.phpcurid2954172.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9883,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/vanuatu\/vanuatu-vanuatu\/spring-e-book-sale-on-my-books-1-year-anniversary\/","url_meta":{"origin":12283,"position":5},"title":"Spring e-Book Sale on my Book’s 1-Year Anniversary","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"April 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Later this month will be the one-year anniversary of my novel, When in Vanuatu. It comes just in time for the big Shower Your Shelf With Books spring e-book sale from my publisher, She Writes Press and SparkPress. From April 1-11, all their Spring 2021 titles will be on sale\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Vanuatu"","block_context":{"text":"Vanuatu","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/vanuatu\/vanuatu-vanuatu\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/IMG_2755-1-e1620939114900.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12283"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12294,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12283\/revisions\/12294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}