Irving Layton Quotes

A proverb is much matter distilled into few words.

A proverb is good sense brought to a point.

APHORISM, n. Predigested wisdom. The flabby wine-skin of his brain Yields to some pathologic strain, And voids from its unstored abysm The driblet of an aphorism. "The Mad Philosopher," 1697

An aphorism that does not score is just one more sentence.

In an aphorism, aptness counts for more than truth.

An apt aphorism half kills, half immortalizes.

APHORISM, n. Predigested wisdom.

A grain of poetry suffices to season a century.

Somewhere in the world there is an epigram for every dilemma.

A fine quotation is a diamond in the hand of a man of wit and a pebble in the hand of a fool.

A short saying often contains much wisdom.

Advice is like snow - the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.

An aphorism is true where it has fixed the impression of a genuine experience.

I want something that's going to linger and stay with me and give me something to think about and chew over. That's the real objective here; it creates something that doesn't feel disposable.

End of Days is a lot of impact; it makes people open their eyes. It makes a statement.

One piece of good sense would be more memorable than a monument as high as the moon.

The proverb answers where the sermon fails.

If you try to write something that's memorable, you'll never get it. Sometimes it's the way the actor says the words that make it memorable.

You can cram a truth into an epigram - the truth, never.

Wise words are like arrows flung at your forehead. What do you do? Why, you duck of course.

A maxim is the exact and noble expression of an important and indisputable truth. Good maxims are the germs of all excellence; when firmly fixed on the memory, they nourish the will.

The aphorism offers a momentary sense of mastery over some confusion or unhappiness.

An aphorism is true where it has fixed the impression of a genuine experience.

Aphorisms are not true or false, but pointed or flat.

There is no proverb that is not true.