Aphorisms by Gregory Norminton
Posted on March 18, 2010
Filed Under Aphorisms | 13 Comments
Gregory Norminton describes himself as a “novelist and seated person.” From that sedentary position, he also writes really good aphorisms, which you can peruse on his aptly titled website How to be Awake. Norminton is a fan of E.M. Cioran and La Rochefoucauld and it shows (and I mean that in a good way): Their dark insights into the human condition glitter around the edges of these aphorisms. And like those two great aphorists, Norminton clearly feels no dismal truth is so bleak that it doesn’t also deserve a laugh. Whereas the laughter in Cioran’s sayings often sounds like a wracking cough from a graveyard, and the laughter in La Rochefoucauld is as sarcastic and mocking as it is hearty, Norminton’s laughter is genuinely jolly and a bit wisecracking. He describes his aphoristic agenda thusly: “Is it procrastination or literature? A bit of both, probably. Here you’ll find a selection of aphorisms as they ‘occur’ to me (i.e. once I’ve puzzled over every comma). Enjoy. And observe copyright.” I trust I will have strictly observed copyright while still offering a small selection of Norminton’s most profound procrastinations. Go to How to be Awake to read more.
The failure of extraterrestrial intelligence to contact us may well be proof of its existence.
We declare the person fascinating who listens to us longest.
What’s blindingly obvious cannot be looked at.
A better word for triumph is reprieve.
One day, the messengers of the world will rise up and shoot first.
If a truth falls on deaf ears, does it make a sound?
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Alzheimer’s: cataract of the mind.
He was much exercised over the Left Bank of Sin.
“I don’t understand him.” “I can’t stand him.”
In the fourth dimension, to ‘think outside the tesseract’ is physically impossible.
Ah…my last comments must have been edited by fate…removed…expunged…they just didn’t work…no focus…and no focus means no point: a dismal truth is so bleak that it doesn’t also deserve a good laugh – so what’s the point! But even when there’s no point there must be some truth or meaning after all, despite being subject to editing by a higher power – Cool!
What’s obvious to a blind man cannot be overlooked, but it can be underestimated…
Some nice aphorisms here…if the truth falls on deaf ears, does it also make a grating sound? I don’t know, but it could be so… However, being “given another chance” suggests you must have been foolish enough to muck up the first one…if not foolish enough to be a “complete idiot!”
What isn’t funny if you look long enough at it? But funny haha, or funny peculiar?
Honoured to be featured on your blog, James.
What variety is to life, contradiction is to the mind.
When night falls, does it make a sound?
these are quite good!
The seated person has the knack of historic perspective here…I like these.
Everybody wants to know the truth, but nobody wants to do what it takes to find it.
[...] first blogged about Gregory Norminton’s aphorisms back in 2010. In September, he publishes The Lost Art of Losing, in the preface to which he writes [...]
Here are some of aphorisms of Zoran T. Popovic from Serbia:
Man is our greatest treasure.
Therefore, special attention is paid
to his exploitation.
Brain drain is proof
we have enough intelligence for export.
I would love the truth to prevail.
I always take the side of the underdog.