Aphorisms are essentially an aristocratic genre of writing. The aphorist does not argue or explain, he asserts; and implicit in his assertion is a conviction that he is wiser and more intelligent than his readers. – W. H. Auden

When two seemingly conflicting thoughts have made it to proverb or aphorism status, usually, in the ambivalence of life, both are true. – Robert Irvine Fitzhenry (1918–2008), The Harper Book of Quotations

Most of the noted literary men have indulged in the prudent habit of selecting favorite passages for future reference. – Charles F. Schutz, Sayings: Proverbs, Maxims, Mottoes, 1915

We prefer to think that the absence of inverted commas guarantees the originality of a thought, whereas it may be merely that the utterer has forgotten its source. – Clifton Fadiman, The American Treasury, 1455-1955, 1955