The Viking Book of Aphorisms, A personal Selection

By W.H. Auden and Louis Kronenberger

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0880290560
• ISBN13: 9780880290562
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Dorset Press
• Length: 405 Pages
• Weight: 1.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 5.5" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

“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 them. 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. He probably did not say that.

One of the best collections of aphorisms there is

The aphorisms collected and edited here by Auden and Kronenberger are drawn from more than four hundred of the West's major authors. The book is organized in chapters, "Humanity " "Religion and God" "Nature"" Education"" Society" "The Sexes" "Love, Marriage and Friendship" The Professions" "History " " Action" "Science" " The Arts" "States and Government" " The Life of the Mind" " Life's Minor Pleasures and Trials" " Ages of Man" It seems almost superflous to give good examples , since every page of the work is rich with them. Who loves aphorisms will love this work.