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26-519: The Aristos: A Self-Portrait in Ideas is a 1964 collection of several hundred philosophical aphorisms by English author John Fowles . A revised edition, without the subtitle, which was shorter but also incorporated new material, was published in hardcover in 1968 and in paperback in 1970. The principal theme in The Aristos is that most achievements, most great steps forward, have come from individuals. In

52-588: A "Soviet collaborator" on the basis of his "weakest, least successful, or most frankly conformist pieces". After Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union he was imprisoned in a German work camp in Tarnopol (now Ternopil), from which he made several attempts to escape. He received a death sentence for his second attempt to escape, but managed to successfully escape in 1943. In his autobiography he described his escape as having taken place after he killed his guard with

78-599: A Jewish nobilitated family. The family moved to Vienna at the onset of First World War , and Lec received his early education there. After the war the family returned to Lwów in the Second Polish Republic . Lec attended the Lemberg Evangelical School. In 1927 he matriculated and begun studies at Lwów's Jan Kazimierz University in Polish language and law, which he graduated in 1933. His literary debut

104-402: A number of languages, including English, German, Slovak, Dutch, Italian, Serbian, Croatian, Swedish, Czech, Finnish, Bulgarian, Russian, Romanian and Spanish. Lec was married twice, first with Elżbieta Rusiewicz-Zuckerman, with whom he had a son Jan (1949) and a daughter Małgorzata (1941), and second with Krystyna Świętońska, with whom he had a son Tomasz (1955). Roman Turovsky composed

130-519: A shovel when taken to dig his own grave. This became the subject of one of his most famous poems "He who had dug his own grave" (from the cycle "To Abel and Cain"): He who had dug his own grave looks attentively at the gravedigger's work, but not pedantically: for this one digs a grave not for himself. After his escape he participated in partisan warfare within the communist formations of Polish resistance (the Gwardia Ludowa and

156-709: A systematic philosophy, because the systematic philosophy consists of the attempt to interpret and explain the aphorisms, as he argues is the case with Confucianism. Alternately, aphorisms may be written against systematic philosophy, as a form of challenge or irreverence, as seen in Nietzsche's work. Lastly, aphorisms may come after or following systematic philosophy, as was the case with Francis Bacon, who sought to bring an end to old ways of thinking. Stanis%C5%82aw Jerzy Lec Stanisław Jerzy Lec ( Polish pronunciation: [staˈɲiswaf ˈjɛʐɨ lɛts] ; 6 March 1909 – 7 May 1966), born Baron Stanisław Jerzy de Tusch-Letz ,

182-616: Is short, art is long", usually reversed in order ( Ars longa, vita brevis ). This aphorism was later applied or adapted to physical science and then morphed into multifarious aphorisms of philosophy , morality , and literature . Currently, an aphorism is generally understood to be a concise and eloquent statement of truth . Aphorisms are distinct from axioms : aphorisms generally originate from experience and custom , whereas axioms are self-evident truths and therefore require no additional proof. Aphorisms have been especially used in subjects to which no methodical or scientific treatment

208-577: The Czerwony Sztandar (Red Banner) newspaper. On 19 November 1939 Lec signed a resolution calling for the incorporation of Polish Eastern Borderlands into the territory of the Soviet Union . Lec's collaboration with the Soviet authorities remains controversial to this day, though he has been defended by Adam Michnik who wrote in his 2007 book that Lec has been unfairly branded by critical opinion as

234-592: The Armia Ludowa ), and eventually served in regular units of Polish People's Army until the end of the war, which he finished with the rank of major. He also edited the communist resistance underground newsletter Żołnierz w Boju (Soldier in Combat) and the communist magazine Wolny Lud (Free Nation). Lec's wartime service allowed him to obtain a diplomatic post as a cultural attaché in Vienna. Becoming disillusioned with

260-575: The Union of Soviet Writers of Ukraine and became a member of the editorial board of “The Literary Almanac” in Lwów. Through this and similar activities he became one of the most prolific pro-Soviet Polish writers, producing numerous works praising the Soviet regime, including the first poem about Stalin written in the Polish language ( Stalin , " Czerwony Sztandar ", 5 December 1939). A number of his works appeared in

286-504: The Communist government, he left for Israel in 1950 with his wife, son and daughter. Lec couldn't adapt to the life in Israel and returned to Poland with his son after two years there. His wife and daughter remained in Israel. He moved to a small town in which he had been in the underground during the war, and remarried there before returning to Warsaw. At first he worked as a translator, as

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312-739: The Convention of Culture Workers, a radical congress initiated by the international communist movement Popular Front in the same year. Later that year he spent a few months in Romania , afraid that his activism could lead to his arrest in Poland. He spent the next two years in Warsaw , where he was involved with a number of other left-leaning publications. Following the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, Lec fled Warsaw, returning to his hometown, Lwów. Lec spent

338-655: The Polish communist authorities had taken away his right to write or publish until the late 1950s. He was immensely popular, and despite the anti-communist and anti-totalitarian themes of his later works, he was given an official state funeral in Warsaw when he died on 7 May 1966. That year, he was awarded the Officer Cross of the Order Polonia Restituta . Lec's early works were primarily lyrical poetry. In his later years, he became known for aphorisms and epigrams . He

364-538: The book's Appendix, Fowles included what he called the "main fragments" of Heraclitus 's doctrine. This article about a philosophy -related book is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Aphorisms The concept is generally distinct from those of an adage , brocard , chiasmus , epigram , maxim ( legal or philosophical ), principle , proverb , and saying ; although some of these concepts could be construed as types of aphorism. Often aphorisms are distinguished from other short sayings by

390-612: The most notable philosophers who employed them in the modern time. Andrew Hui argued that aphorisms played an important role in the history of philosophy, influencing the favored mediums of philosophical traditions. He argued for example, that the Platonic Dialogues served as a response to the difficult to interpret fragments and phrases which Pre-Socratic philosophers were famous for. Hui proposes that aphorisms often arrive before, after, or in response to more systematic argumentative philosophy. For example, aphorisms may come before

416-613: The need for interpretation to make sense of them. In A Theory of the Aphorism , Andrew Hui defined an aphorism as "a short saying that requires interpretation". A famous example is: You cannot step into the same river twice. The word was first used in the Aphorisms of Hippocrates , a long series of propositions concerning the symptoms and diagnosis of disease and the art of healing and medicine . The often-cited first sentence of this work is: " Ὁ βίος βραχύς, δὲ τέχνη μακρή " – "life

442-618: The twentieth century were Unkempt Thoughts by Stanisław Jerzy Lec (in Polish) and Itch of Wisdom by Mikhail Turovsky (in Russian and English). Many societies have traditional sages or culture heroes to whom aphorisms are commonly attributed, such as the Seven Sages of Greece , Chanakya , Confucius , or King Solomon . Misquoted or misadvised aphorisms are frequently used as a source of humour ; for instance, wordplays of aphorisms appear in

468-580: The work of some modern authors. A 1559 oil–on–oak-panel painting, Netherlandish Proverbs (also called The Blue Cloak or The Topsy Turvy World ) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder , artfully depicts a land populated with literal renditions of Flemish aphorisms ( proverbs ) of the day. The first noted published collection of aphorisms is Adagia by Erasmus . Other important early aphorists were Baltasar Gracián , François de La Rochefoucauld , and Blaise Pascal . Two influential collections of aphorisms published in

494-452: The works of P. G. Wodehouse , Terry Pratchett , and Douglas Adams . Aphorisms being misquoted by sports players, coaches, and commentators form the basis of Private Eye 's Colemanballs section. Professor of Humanities Andrew Hui, author of A Theory of the Aphorism offered the following definition of an aphorism: "a short saying that requires interpretation". Hui showed that some of the earliest philosophical texts from traditions around

520-546: The world through irony, melancholy, and nostalgia. His later works, usually very short (aphorisms), through techniques such as wordplay, paradox, nonsense, abstract humor, and didacticism convey philosophical thoughts through single phrases and sentences. Collections of Lec’s aphorisms and epigrams include Z tysiąca jednej fraszki (From a Thousand and One Trifles; 1959), Fraszkobranie (Gathering Trifles; 1967); and Myśli nieuczesane (Unkempt Thoughts; 1957, followed by sequels in 1964 and 1966). His work has been translated into

546-744: The world used an aphoristic style. Some of the earliest texts in the western philosophical canon feature short statements requiring interpretation, as seen in the Pre-Socratics like Heraclitus and Parmenides . In early Hindu literature, the Vedas were composed of many aphorisms. Likewise, in early Chinese philosophy, Taoist texts like the Tao Te Ching and the Confucian Analects relied on an aphoristic style. Francis Bacon , Blaise Pascal , Desiderius Erasmus , and Friedrich Nietzsche rank among some of

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572-523: The years 1939–1941 there, while the city along with the rest of Polish Eastern Borderlands was occupied by the Soviet Union after the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939. While in the Soviet Union, Lec joined in the literary life under the auspices of Ukrainian SSR authorities. He contributed to the magazine “New Horizons”. His poems, satires, articles, and translations from Russian were published in ”Krasnoe Znamya” magazine. In 1940 he joined

598-518: Was a Polish aphorist and poet . Often mentioned among the greatest writers of post-war Poland , he was one of the most influential aphorists of the 20th century, known for lyric poetry and skeptical philosophical-moral aphorisms , often with a political subtext . Son of the Baron Benon de Tusch-Letz and Adela Safrin, he was born on 6 March 1909 in Lemberg, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Lviv) to

624-459: Was in 1929. Much of his early work was lyric poetry appearing in left-wing and communist magazines. He collaborated with the communist “ Dziennik Popularny " between 1933 and 1936. In 1935 he co-founded the satirical magazine Szpilki (Pins). A "literary cabaret" he founded in Lwów in collaboration with Leon Pasternak in 1936 was closed by the authorities after several performances. Nor did his law-abiding image improve after he took part in

650-410: Was influenced by religious (Jewish and Christian) as well as European cultural traditions. In his works he often modernized ancient messages, while preserving their universality. His notable poems such as Notatnik polowy (Field Notebook; 1946), Rękopis Jerozolimski (The Jerusalem Manuscript; 1950–1952, reedited in 1956 and 1957), and Do Kaina i Abla (To Cain and Abel; 1961) had a theme of exploring

676-651: Was originally applied, such as agriculture , medicine , jurisprudence , and politics . Aphoristic collections, sometimes known as wisdom literature , have a prominent place in the canons of several ancient societies, such as the Sutra literature of India , the Biblical Ecclesiastes , Islamic hadiths , the golden verses of Pythagoras , Hesiod 's Works and Days , the Delphic maxims , and Epictetus' Handbook . Aphoristic collections also make up an important part of

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