Hendrik Willem Van Loon Quotes

An epigram is a flashlight of a truth; a witticism, truth laughing at itself.

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 is never exactly true; it is either a half-truth or one-and-a-half truths.

APHORISM, n. Predigested wisdom.

There is no proverb that is not true.

A proverb is much matter distilled into few words.

A proverb is good sense brought to a point.

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.

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

Aphorisms are portable wisdom, the quintessential extracts of thought and feeling.

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

An aphorism is a generalization, therefore not modern.

I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.

An apt quotation is like a lamp which flings its light over the whole sentence.

An aphorism ought to be entirely isolated from the surrounding world like a little work of art and complete in itself like a hedgehog.

Aphorisms are food for thought - like sushi, they come in small portions that are both delicious and exquisitely formed. And, like sushi, I can never get enough.

A witty saying proves nothing.

A proverb is one man’s wit and all men’s wisdom.

I'm obsessed with proverbs because, to me, flexing is being able to say the most with the least amount of words.

The proverb answers where the sermon fails.

ADAGE, n. Boned wisdom for weak teeth.

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

In an aphorism, aptness counts for more than truth.

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.