Don Paterson hopes to revive the aphorism: “More than anything, the aphorism tries desperately hard to be memorable. (Of course, this is the aim of all writing, but usually we make some attempt to conceal the desperation. Another reason why aphorisms, when they fall, fall very hard indeed.) But perhaps they also reflect our conviction that all the most important things we need to say must find a way of inhabiting the single breath, the instant, if they’re to shock awake our real, breathing, present moment – because if we don’t stay alive to that, we’re dead to everything.”
© 2004, DrMabuse. All rights reserved.
The “amorphisms” he refers to sound like something out of Lorrie Moore.
Aphorisms are like pet monkeys: one or two are fun but any more than that and no one wants to come over to visit at your place anymore.