Epigram: 1.A vividly expressed truth that is so, or not, as the case may be. 2.A dash of wit and a jigger of wisdom, flavored with surprise. – Elbert Hubbard, The Roycroft Dictionary Concocted by Ali Baba and the Bunch on R

You complain, Velox, that the epigrams which I write are long. You yourself write nothing; your attempts are shorter. – Marcus Valerius Martialis, translated from Latin

I would fain coin wisdom,—mould it, I mean, into maxims, proverbs, sentences, that can easily be retained and transmitted. Would that I could denounce and banish from the language of men—as base money—the words by which they cheat and are cheated! – Joseph Joubert, translated from French

I am not merely a habitual quoter but an incorrigible one. I am, I may as well face it, more quotatious than an old stock-market ticker-tape machine, except that you can’t unplug me. – Joseph Epstein, “Quotatious,” A Line Out for a Walk: Familiar Essays, 1991