This is a selection from a small book by the artist Sam Francis called APHORISMS. The entries tilt more toward short poetry (with line breaks) or perhaps being composed as back-of-an-envelope jottings on art/aesthetics, rather than ‘aphorisms’ as we tend to think of them:
The eye is
the light
of the body
*
Death has
no surface
only depth
*
I paint time
I am ruin rolled
I am rolled
*
Color is born
of the interpenetration
of light and dark
*
Color is a series
of harmonies
everywhere in
the universe
being divine
whole numbers
lasting forever
adrift in time
*
Red contains every color
even red
all colors in this
painting consist of
all other colors
*
The space at
the center
of these paintings
is reserved
for you
*
There are as many images
as eyes to see
*
As you know
energy can have
never begun
and yet is
taken up
again and
again and
lasts forever
and forever
until it is
taken up
again
*
We are always at the center of space
we are always at the center of time
we are always as far
as possible from both
east and west
we are always as far as possible from earlier
and later
—Sam Francis, APHORISMS (The Lapis Press, 1984)
Showing posts with label aphorism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aphorism. Show all posts
5.15.2023
1.30.2021
A Small Map of Experience by Leonidas Donskis
The aphorisms in this book range from a sentence to micro-essay in length. Many run to paragraph length. My definition of an aphorism prohibits an aphorism to turn a page or break into a second paragraph. (The book's subtitle does state they are 'reflections and aphorisms'.)
In the foreword to the collection, Donskis says, “[Aphorisms] rise up out of authentic experience—from silence and pauses, from stopping oneself so that a thought is not drowned by a flood of words and pretentious expressions. A person who speaks too much is unlikely to succeed in writing aphorisms and maxims.”
The entries in this collection are numbered but not grouped under any topic headings. They may have been arranged carefully, they may be chronological; all we know is they move in and out various themes and realms of thinking. Also, in the collection, Donskis gives us some variations on the thoughts of others:
Variation of Milan Kundera
When our memories die, so do we.
Donskis is a philosopher, social thinker and commentator, as well as a politician (elected to the European Parliament). Many of the aphorisms touch on the great themes of moral and political philosophy.
Tolerance is the understanding that I was not born to edit other people’s lives and thoughts—that I must spend my life editing myself.
There are frequent entries regarding art and literature, too.
Great art dissolves our illusions about the importance and truth of the present.
Like many writers from smaller European countries, having undergone the twists and turns and tortures of western history, he recognizes the hard facts of our human circumstance when it comes to power and the struggle for human dignity.
What is one’s homeland? The place where one becomes a parent, or where a parent was killed?
Here are some more aphorisms by Leonidas Donskis…
13
Some artists are perfect products of their age, while others actively help to create it. These are two aspects of the same social dynamic: either one reflects one’s time or becomes and alternative to it. Each is equally important to the social and political thinker.
39
One loves that which one is afraid to lose and does passionately that which can be interrupted at any time.
59
Identity is the fragile dream of being like those whom you would like to identify, while preserving your own uniqueness.
61
Rembrandt and Shakespeare are geniuses of the same order. They painted the story of the human soul in every shade—from wretchedness to greatness.
63
There are two types of genius. One is an author who creates an original canon out of nothing or from some fragment of his or her own experience. The other is a pilfering magpie who weaves all the interesting and sparkly things of that era into new combinations. It is enough to compare Dante and Shakespeare, Bach and Mozart, Masaccio and Filippino Lippi, Hals and Johannes Verspronck, his Dutch colleague and competitor.
76
We think that happiness lies in the fulfillment of great dreams and ambitions. But in truth it lies in the details of everyday life—everyday sounds, colours, favorite objects, old books, music albums, a cup of tea in the morning. It is only when we lose these things that we grasp their true worth.
105
Idealism is realism about the past or the future.
110
A young conservative is a premature misanthrope. An old socialist is a late-blooming visionary. How are they related? They both dislike the age they are and the age they live in.
115
Talent is the ability to write tens or hundreds of pages in the hope of suddenly producing that one sentence that will make it all worthwhile (and easy to discard the rest).
127
“Nobody” is not someone who is unknown, but someone who doesn’t want to know anything—not someone who is unimportant, but someone for whom nothing is important.
136
Rhetorical excess or deathly silence—these are two fragile and barely discernable bulwarks between the superfluity and absence of thought.
167
A friend is someone with whom one does not have to justify one’s existence.
—Leonidas Donskis, A Small Map of Experience: Reflections and Aphorisms (Guernica Editions, 2010), translated by Karla Gruodis.
In the foreword to the collection, Donskis says, “[Aphorisms] rise up out of authentic experience—from silence and pauses, from stopping oneself so that a thought is not drowned by a flood of words and pretentious expressions. A person who speaks too much is unlikely to succeed in writing aphorisms and maxims.”
The entries in this collection are numbered but not grouped under any topic headings. They may have been arranged carefully, they may be chronological; all we know is they move in and out various themes and realms of thinking. Also, in the collection, Donskis gives us some variations on the thoughts of others:
Variation of Milan Kundera
When our memories die, so do we.
Donskis is a philosopher, social thinker and commentator, as well as a politician (elected to the European Parliament). Many of the aphorisms touch on the great themes of moral and political philosophy.
Tolerance is the understanding that I was not born to edit other people’s lives and thoughts—that I must spend my life editing myself.
There are frequent entries regarding art and literature, too.
Great art dissolves our illusions about the importance and truth of the present.
Like many writers from smaller European countries, having undergone the twists and turns and tortures of western history, he recognizes the hard facts of our human circumstance when it comes to power and the struggle for human dignity.
What is one’s homeland? The place where one becomes a parent, or where a parent was killed?
Here are some more aphorisms by Leonidas Donskis…
13
Some artists are perfect products of their age, while others actively help to create it. These are two aspects of the same social dynamic: either one reflects one’s time or becomes and alternative to it. Each is equally important to the social and political thinker.
39
One loves that which one is afraid to lose and does passionately that which can be interrupted at any time.
59
Identity is the fragile dream of being like those whom you would like to identify, while preserving your own uniqueness.
61
Rembrandt and Shakespeare are geniuses of the same order. They painted the story of the human soul in every shade—from wretchedness to greatness.
63
There are two types of genius. One is an author who creates an original canon out of nothing or from some fragment of his or her own experience. The other is a pilfering magpie who weaves all the interesting and sparkly things of that era into new combinations. It is enough to compare Dante and Shakespeare, Bach and Mozart, Masaccio and Filippino Lippi, Hals and Johannes Verspronck, his Dutch colleague and competitor.
76
We think that happiness lies in the fulfillment of great dreams and ambitions. But in truth it lies in the details of everyday life—everyday sounds, colours, favorite objects, old books, music albums, a cup of tea in the morning. It is only when we lose these things that we grasp their true worth.
105
Idealism is realism about the past or the future.
110
A young conservative is a premature misanthrope. An old socialist is a late-blooming visionary. How are they related? They both dislike the age they are and the age they live in.
115
Talent is the ability to write tens or hundreds of pages in the hope of suddenly producing that one sentence that will make it all worthwhile (and easy to discard the rest).
127
“Nobody” is not someone who is unknown, but someone who doesn’t want to know anything—not someone who is unimportant, but someone for whom nothing is important.
136
Rhetorical excess or deathly silence—these are two fragile and barely discernable bulwarks between the superfluity and absence of thought.
167
A friend is someone with whom one does not have to justify one’s existence.
—Leonidas Donskis, A Small Map of Experience: Reflections and Aphorisms (Guernica Editions, 2010), translated by Karla Gruodis.
1.03.2021
empty pith
You have heard them: “Second place is the first loser,” or “Those who can’t do, teach.” They have the force of aphorism but lack wisdom.
12.18.2020
1.19.2020
the aphorists
In La Rochefoucauld’s aphorisms there is the feeling of drawing rooms, the air heavy with the dust of powdered wigs and pungent perfumes.
He's fond of negative phrasings which is perhaps a reflection of his cynical nature. Cynicism is one thing, but he’s often wrong, too, about human nature, or he overstates his case, which is perhaps inherent to the aphorism as a literary form.
He's fond of negative phrasings which is perhaps a reflection of his cynical nature. Cynicism is one thing, but he’s often wrong, too, about human nature, or he overstates his case, which is perhaps inherent to the aphorism as a literary form.
5.04.2019
2.02.2010
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