Article image

Pithy Aphorisms to Guide You in Life

Aphorisms are among the oldest — and shortest — literary art forms. They tend to be concise statements or phrases that offer advice or insight in easy-to-remember nuggets that can be applied to a variety of situations. These brief, pithy sayings stay with us because they often use metaphors or imagery to make their point. Think: “the early bird gets the worm” or “a penny saved is a penny earned.” Their appeal lies in their ability to reflect our own understanding of the world, and they endure because they contain universal truths that resonate across generations.

Many renowned writers through the years have used their mastery of words to spin wisdom into memorable and witty maxims. From ancient wisdom to witty one-liners, here are 15 aphorisms to guide you in life.

Life is made up of marble and mud.
Nathaniel Hawthorne

Share Quote

It is not length of life, but depth of life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Share Quote

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
James Baldwin

Share Quote

Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood.
Marie Curie

Share Quote

He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows or judge all he sees.
Benjamin Franklin

Share Quote

Life is short, art long, occasion brief, experience fallacious, judgment difficult.
Hippocrates

Share Quote

Tell me who admires and loves you, and I will tell you who you are.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Share Quote

We are always the same age inside.
Gertrude Stein

Share Quote

The act of dying is one of the acts of life.
Marcus Aurelius

Share Quote

History, like beauty, depends largely on the beholder.
Desmond Tutu

Share Quote

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
widely attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt

Share Quote

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.
Oscar Wilde

Share Quote

There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.
Leonard Cohen

Share Quote

Brevity is the soul of wit.
William Shakespeare

Share Quote

Travel is fatal to prejudice.
Mark Twain

Share Quote

Photo credit: Bettmann via Getty Images

Author image
About the Author
Kristina Wright
Kristina is a coffee-fueled writer living happily ever after with her family in the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia.
Play more header background
Play more icon
Daily Question
Fill in the blank: "There will always be someone who can't see your ___. Don't let it be you." - Mel Robbins

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.

separator icon
Seneca
motivation theme icon

Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.

separator icon
Carl Sagan
hope theme icon

Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.

separator icon
Lucy Maud Montgomery
love theme icon

It always seems impossible until it's done.

separator icon
Nelson Mandela
wisdom theme icon

Never be so focused on what you’re looking for that you overlook the thing you actually find.

separator icon
Ann Patchett
happiness theme icon

We are stronger when we listen, and smarter when we share.

separator icon
Rania Al-Abdullah
motivation theme icon

I have been bent and broken, but — I hope — into a better shape.

separator icon
Charles Dickens
hope theme icon

We go through life. We shed our skins. We become ourselves.

separator icon
Patti Smith
love theme icon

There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.

separator icon
Jane Austen
wisdom theme icon

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.

separator icon
Albert Einstein
happiness theme icon

Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent.

separator icon
Mignon McLaughlin