The Viking Book of Aphorisms by W. H. Auden (PDF)

Description

Contains over 3,000 entries of concise statements of 400 noted authors including Goethe, Freud, and Lin Yutang

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This books is full of advice aphorisms and sayings that will make you think. They are sweet, cynical, dark and lighthearted all in one book.

⭐I have several books of Aphorisms, but this is the best compilation I own. It is one of my favorite books. The subject matters include Humanity, Religion and God, Nature, Education, Society, The Sexes, Love-Marriage-Friendship, The Professions, History, Action, Science, The Arts, States and Government, The Life of the Mind, Life’s Minor Pleasures and Trials, and Aces of Man. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a thoughtful compilation.

⭐I have one of these books at the suggestion of a great friend of ours who was a publisher…liked it sooo much, this one goes to another friend!

⭐good job

⭐Very good!

⭐Old book that my friend thought was out of print. It will give you pearls of wisdom every day! Funny, cynical, wise, outlandish, really a mix of everything!

⭐There is no more sophisticated collection of aphorisms on the market. Most of the usual cliched stuff is missing. What’s here is a collection of gems.

⭐THE VIKING BOOK OF APHORISMS is the gift that keeps on giving. Cleverly compiled by the famous poet W.H. Auden and the editor Louis Kronenberger, it features the wisdom of many of Western Civilization’s greatest and most quotable men, including Nietzsche, Kant, Schiller, St. Augustine, Goethe, Blake, Bacon, Halifax, Valérey, Kierkergaard, Schopenhauer, Emerson, Pascal, Chesterton, Kant, Disraeli, Chekov, Freud, Proust, Huxley,Tocqueville, Voltaire, Seneca, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jane Austen, Samuel Butler and Mark Twain — to name a few.An aphorism is defined by the editors as as assertion which is held by the person who utters it to be universally true, so it’s fair to say that a book of aphorisms is essentially a massive heap of advice and observation. Much of it is funny, some of it rather grim, and a lot of it sarcastic and cynical (such as Gracian’s advice that “a beautiful woman should break her mirror early”) but it’s safe to say the opinions of the people quoted are not always in agreement either in terms of sentiment or in outlook. There are far too many great lines to quote, but a few of the winners would include: “The knowledge of God is very far from the love of Him.” (Pascal), “Injustice is relatively easy to bear; it’s justice that hurts.” (Mencken) “Nobody ever forgets where he buried the hatchet.” (Kin Hubbard). “As a general rule, nobody has money who ought to have it.” (Disraeli) “Fanaticism consists of redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.” (Santayana) “Fine minds seldom make fine souls.” (Richter) And “How good bad music and and bad reasons sound when we march against an enemy.” (Nietzsche)Auden and Kronenberger divide the 400 page book into sections on humanity, religion and god, nature, education, society, the sexes, love, marriage and friendship, the professions, history, action, science, the arts, states and governments, the life of the mind, life’s minor trials and pleasures, and the ages of man. Some of the sections, such as humanity, are large enough to have subsections of their own. There is also a brief forward by the editors and a keyword index at the back of the book, but overall it’s just a straightforward compliation of quotes. The value here is that reader will not only learn new ideas from these famous people, but also discover many which are in accordance with his or her own way of thinking, and encapsulate vague feelings he’s always had but never quite been able to express in words. It’s true that there are a number of quotes which are vague, incoherent, dull, overly obvious, pretentious or simply unworthy of inclusion in the book, but even a gold mine produces its fair share of clinkers. I keep this book on my desk and refer to it about once a day, opening pages at random and almost never replacing it without discovering some new observation that amuses or edifies me, and I’d recommend it to anyone interested in meeting some of the best (and most notorious) thinkers produced by our civilization.

⭐I was satisfied with this book. It was used but in good condition. Pages have the aged stain appearance but all text is legible and overall everything is just fine.

⭐This is a great book of aphorisms with lots of material to chew on at length. Not the sort of book you tend to come across too often anymore.

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