In Turgenev’s novel Fathers and Sons, the nihilist Yevgeny Bazarov, addressing his friend Arkady Kirsanov, exclaims: “I ask you about one thing: don’t speak beautifully!” This is said with a great deal of irony to the enthusiastic and vague thoughts of the young comrade. After all, Bazarov himself speaks accurately and concisely, succinctly and succinctly. No wonder so many of his expressions were remembered by readers and became aphorisms. Their second name is winged.
Phenomenon Properties
Each of us can give an example of aphorisms on the move, without even suspecting that they are. The famous “Knowledge is power”, “Better be alone than with anybody”, “Don’t make yourself an idol” and many other similar phrases fly off our language sometimes before we can remember who their author is. This is one of the main features of such expressions. It seems that we always knew them, that we are their co-authors. And all because almost any example of aphorisms is such a successful formulation of a particular thought that it sinks into consciousness as an example of a speech norm. This is the phenomenon of the majority of winged expressions: they are always heard, they are reproduced almost unchanged and understood at a glance.
What it is
The first example of
aphorisms was given by the ancient Greeks. They also outlined the scope of the phenomenon itself, its distinguishing features. According to the Hellenic language, “aphorism is a definition”, that is, a definite finished statement containing a valuable, original thought. It is formulated in an energetic, memorable form, short, bright, figurative, memorable. The expression can be oral or written - the main thing is that it be picked up and quoted by other people. The best
example of aphorisms shows how important it is to be able to maximally correlate the meaning of a statement and the contextual field, as well as the situation in which it is relevant. Such expressions, as a rule, are the quintessence of author's observations of life, conclusions from reflections on questions of interest to him. “A thought honed like a dagger,” as one of the Eastern sages of the Middle Ages called aphorisms.
Great minds
Not every person has such an amazing ability - to think and speak so extraordinary that his words went down in history. And not just by themselves, but as an example of the harmony of wisdom and beauty of the syllable. Zhoris de Bruyne compared beautiful aphorisms with thoughts “performing a pirouette”. By the way, he himself is also an unsurpassed author of this literary genre. In general, according to linguists, ideally, winged sayings consist of 4-7 words and are widely used from scientific works, philosophical treatises, and works of fiction. From physics, mechanics, the words of Archimedes came to us about the fulcrum, with which you can turn the world upside down. They have long disregarded the exact sciences and acquired their own universal meaning. Perhaps the entire reading
population of the Earth knows aphorisms about the people of Omar Khayyam, Dreiser, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Laroshfuko, Nietzsche, Kant and other great figures of culture and art. They have long entered the priceless treasury of human heritage.
Inimitable Faina
Faina Ranevskaya, the legendary Soviet actress of the first half of the 20th century, owns a large number of interesting aphorisms. Acute in language, critically thinking, observant and independent in judgments, Faina Grigoryevna spoke directly and sharply about people and events. Each expression of hers beat, as they say, not in the eyebrow, but in the eye. There is an irony turning into a mockery of oneself, caustic sarcasm and tragic grotesque. It was Ranevskaya who came to the head to compare life with an angry neighbor who passes and does not bow. And how relevant this bitter confession sounds: “I still remember decent people ... how old I am!” Her phrases about Mulia, who said, “Don't make me nervous,” and beauty, “terrible power,” became classics. And only the great Faina could call old age a swine and “ignorance of God.”