Aphorism

From open-encyclopedia.com - the free encyclopedia.

An aphorism is a wise saying that bears repetition

Some examples are:

Marry in haste: repent at leisure.--Scots Proverb
Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. --Chinese Proverb, often attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt
Lost time is never found again. --Benjamin Franklin
People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

It can embody a bit of humor or be tied to some overworked statement, such as:

One man's socks are another man's poison.

Some writers such as Eric Hoffer employ a style of compressing ideas and thoughts into brief paragraphs, many one sentence long, and refer to these as aphorisms. See http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eric_Hoffer for selected examples.

Aphorisms is also the title of a work by Hippocrates which was well known during the mediaeval era.