Looking for some words of wit and wisdom during these trying times? “Choose not to be outraged today.” @kevinkelly.bsky.social Come hear some more at #ILFD this Sunday at 5pm! @ilfdublin.bsky.social

Next week, @gearyjames.bsky.social joins John Connell and Gary Quinn at the @ilfdublin.bsky.social to discuss his book, THE WORLD IN A PHRASE. Details: buff.ly/vFue1sP #ILFD

Looking for some words of wit and wisdom during these trying times? “If the future had known what lay ahead, it would never have arrived.” — Urszula Zybura Come hear some more at #ILFD this Sunday at 5pm! @ilfdublin.bsky.social

"An aphorism can show us how much a single sentence might contain.” @karlwhitney.ie in @irishexaminer.bsky.social Discover the art of the aphorism at It’s Just A Phrase You’re Going Through at the @ilfdublin.bsky.social on May 17 at 5pm! #ILFD

Looking for an aphorism about farming? the climate crisis? How about, "Nature to be commanded must be obeyed," by Francis Bacon, the philosopher not the painter. Want more? Come to It’s Just A Phrase You’re Going Through at the @ilfdublin.bsky.social on May 17 at 5pm! #ILFD

Make the sky blue again. — Nick, the Finsbury Park aphorist, @londonermag.bsky.social #aphorism www.the-londoner.co.uk/the-finsbury...

Go, and your homeland goes with you; return, and it’s lost forever. —Diana Anphimiadi, “Bond” #aphorism poemsontheunderground.org/bond

The chief preoccupation of adult life is the replenishment of the appetites. —Nick Trefethen #aphorism

The slower you go the sooner you are. —Alice Eckles #aphorism jamesgeary.com/my-life-in-f...

Word of Mouth @BBCRadio4 Thursday 15.30

“When #writing aphorisms… seeing something and saying something happen at the same time.” — @gearyjames.bsky.social , The World in a Phrase #booksky #quote

Art is magic delivered from the lie of being truth. —Theodor W. Adorno #aphorism

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. St Augustine #aphorism

Usual time 15.30 This programme is great fun

I liked this aphorism from Polish writer W. Brudzinski: "The most difficult thing is to find the way to the signposts". It strikes me that this a good summary of the role of #Librarians, getting you from zero to a point where you can navigate for yourself.

Really interesting. When I heard that professions have their own aphorisms, I remembered some produced by my OH, a social psychologist www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...

#Radio Aphorisms: Sayings to Live By Word of Mouth Thuur 15:30 BBC Radio 4 @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social talks to James Geary about his lifetime obsession, the short, witty philosophical sayings known as aphorisms. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

catching up with Word of Mouth on aphorisms @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social @gearyjames.bsky.social As the Beard Liberation Front has it, a beard on the chin is better than one in the barbers www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

If you write off the top of your head, what you produce is verbal dandruff. —Tim Brookes #aphorism

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1... Thank you @theatlantic.com @adriennelaf.bsky.social #aphorisms

We kneel before heroes, not invaders – the aphorism today. An extract from ‘The World In A Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism’ (second edition), by @gearyjames.bsky.social @uchicagopress.bsky.social www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...

Seen at @politicsprose.bsky.social 🙏🏻 #aphorisms

#aphorisms in the @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...

#aphorisms in @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/7164...

Thanks to @wbur.org @hereandnow.bsky.social and host Lisa Mullins for having me on! www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...

Why the short, witty, philosophical sayings known as aphorisms are making a comeback... Thanks to @seanmoncrieff.bsky.social and @newstalkfm.bsky.social for having me on the show! www.goloudplayer.com/episodes/a-b...

Publishing books – buying them, commissioning them, designing them, selling them – takes creativity, just like writing them. @thebookseller.com #aphorism www.thebookseller.com/comment/publ...

Resistance is fertile. —Ruha Benjamin

Aphorisms “serve as a probe or compass to explore the threads of life and poetry.” @literaryhub.bsky.social lithub.com/the-striking...

On 'TRE in the Afternoon' with Hannah Murray - @gearyjames.bsky.social with 'The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism', Caroline Young on 'Vivienne Westwood: Provocateur', and Charlie Brougham reviews the weekend's sport.

"An aphorism is the last link in a long chain of thought." See how true Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach's aphorism is in The World in A Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism — out now! #aphorism @uchicagopress bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

Adlai Stevenson was another politician with an aphoristic sense of humor, which he used on the campaign trail... "The hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning." #aphorism www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/n...

Reflecting on the demise of The Farmers’ Almanac and the origins of the American aphorism tradition, beginning in 1732 with the premier edition of Ben Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack: "It is hard for an empty sack to stand upright." #aphorism www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...

“The aphorism,” Geary writes, “is, in some ways, perfectly suited to the digital age: The oldest form of literature finds its ideal vehicle in the most modern short modes of communication.” Thanks for reading and writing @mashedradish.bsky.social #aphorism mashedradish.com/2025/11/07/a...

I reviewed James Geary's new second edition of his delightful handbook to the aphorism, The World in a Phrase, which sparkles with the wit and wisdom of those he quotes: mashedradish.com/2025/11/07/a...

www.cambridgeday.com/2025/11/06/w... Election Day isn’t over yet…. Vote for your fav aphorism now @cambridgeday.com @harvardbookstore.bsky.social #aphorism

open.substack.com/live-stream/...?

www.harvardmagazine.com/off-the-shel... #aphorism

My talk at Harvard's Memorial Church (starting at 7:19 and ending at 14:03) on how play makes something out of nothing, inspired by Giacomo Leopardi's #aphorism: "Children find everything in nothing, adults find nothing in everything. soundcloud.com/memorial-chu...

Richard Kostelanetz’s aphorisms of “radical constraint”… Four-words: If uninvited, arrive late. Anyone understood becomes predictable. Three-words: Eschew questionable explanations. Be seriously funny. Two-words: never generalize sentences end #aphorisms jamesgeary.com/richard-kost...

"An accessible and funny guide to millennia of aphorisms" @karlwhitney.ie on The World in A Phrase in @irishexaminer.bsky.social 🙏4📖ing! www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar... #aphorisms

Is it better to be messy and alive or concise and dead? www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar...

#puns #wit the pun is the highest not the lowest form of wit

All politics are local. —Tip O’Neill … #aphorism on the street

Put the best shit at the end, the second-best shit at the beginning, and all the other shit in between. —John Bennet jamesgeary.com/aphorisms-on...

Be seriously funny. —Richard Kostelanetz’s aphorisms of “radical constraint” jamesgeary.com/richard-kost...