Word: aphorist
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...died, as befitted a gentleman, of the gout. His presence at court gave him plentiful opportunity to observe the follies of others, and his several terms of exile allowed him time to reflect on his own. The celebrated Maxims that resulted established him as the most trenchant aphorist...
...Aphorist. As he began to make speeches, the quality of mind Stevenson revealed was that of a man who feels that there are two sides to most questions, who is willing to give credit where credit is due, who believes that patience, hard work and understanding can solve most problems. But it was his sharp wit, directed at Republicans, which captured the imagination of his friendly audiences...
...ability as a wit, phrasemaker and aphorist gave him a reputation in the first month of the campaign. The Republican Party's slogan, he said, was to "throw the rascals in," and "as to their platform, well, nobody can stand on a bushel of eels." Discussing social security at Flint, Mich., he remarked: "Now as far as Republican leaders are concerned, this desire for a change is understandable. I suppose if I had been sewn up in the same underwear for 20 years I'd want a change...
...Cynical Aphorist. As Nancy Mitford remarks in her lively introduction, the same cannot be said of Madame de Lafayette, who, after marrying a provincial boor and bearing him several children, spent the remainder of her life on the edges of Louis XIV's court engaged in an endless quest for preferment and place...
...outstanding member of her circle was that famous and cynical aphorist, La Rochefoucauld, who is supposed to have been her lover, although he was by then old, blind and gouty. He is also supposed to have collaborated on The Princess of Cleves, but the book has nary a line of the brilliance and insight of the man who once wrote, "There are people who would never have fallen in love had they never heard love discussed...