Aphorisms by Olivia Dresher
Posted on February 24, 2009
Filed Under Aphorisms | 37 Comments
“Aphorisms are like caffeinated drinks,” says Olivia Dresher. And hers definitely give you a refreshing buzz. Dresher describes her aphorisms as “often personal (“I” statements) and poetic; some are written in the form of questions. They’re colored by intuition as well as thought. I hope some of my aphorisms bring a female sensibility to the mostly-male form.” She cites Antonio Porchia (see the Guide, pp. 379–381) as one of her favorites, and his gentle, Zen-like insights are also present in Dresher’s aphorisms, too. Dresher is is a writer, publisher, anthologist, former musician, and an advocate for historic preservation. She is also a devotee of the fragment, and is founder, director, or editor (and sometimes all three) of Impassio Press (an independent literary press publishing fragmentary writing), the Life Writing Connection (an online, annotated directory of unpublished American life writings from the 20th century), and FragLit Magazine. You can read more about Olivia Dresher here, and read additional aphorisms here. Here is a small selection (Warning: contains caffeine!):
Ordinary life is like a bad novel: clichés everywhere, and no real character development.
A vacation is a cage of freedom.
Life used to be cheap because it was short. Now it’s cheap because it’s long.
Nothing lasts these days except what we throw away.
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37 Responses to “Aphorisms by Olivia Dresher”
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Racehorses never run out of new names.
“Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait”–Self Realization Center, Pacific Palisades CA.
What a nice, polite, discerning aphorist! I’ll certainly subscribe to her Fraglit magazine from now on!
Life isn’t like anything; it isn’t even like life.
Writing is a game of hits and misses. Throw out the hits and keep the misses.
Olivia, just read your additional aphorisms. Enjoyed the wistful, intimate tone. Particularly liked: I feel invisible but not invisible enough, and, Proof that I’ve never grown up: all the questions I ask. One of my aphorisms is almost identical to yours: Every day you live is a holiday from death. I love this kind of coincidence which suggests, perhaps, there may be some universal truths after all.
Marty Rubin
Marty, your feedback is most appreciated…and there are many of your aphorisms that I’m drawn to (I want to spend more time with them, write down my favorites). Thanks for mentioning that aphoristic coincidence. Perhaps, as you said, there may be some universal truths after all. (I’ve always felt aphorisms as reminders, gongs-in-words.)
Olivia-Just read the latest edition of FragLit on line. What fun to be able to read all these new aphorists and their work. Liked Thomas Farber’s selections as well as Eric’s. Keep them coming. It’s like visiting a candy store.
Marty, many thanks. And finding your aphorisms here & there on this blog is a treat, too (and I hope you keep them coming, as well). Like this one: “A blind man sees with his cane, like all the rest of us.”
Olivia-have you ever visited: the daily aphorism.com
I’ve been posting a lot of aphorisms there. Would love to see some contributions by you and other aphorists-to help upgrade the site. Big bold print-it’s fun to look at. Run by “The School of Life” in London-a great place.
Marty: No, I’ve never visted the daily aphorism.com before. I’ll definitely check it out…
Olivia-absolutely thrilled to tune in to daily aphorism and find one of Eric’s there. Thanks for passing it on.
We tame wild horses. And what’s worse: we make it a crime to be one.
Olivia-any new aphorisms lately? I’d love to read them.
Hi Marty, I just now checked this blog for the first time in quite a while and found your comment, above.
Here are a few more of my aphorisms:
“Cats sleep slowly.”
“Wisdom = knowing unremembered dreams.”
“To think the unthinkable: the possible impossibility.”
“To watch is to listen with my eyes.”
And by the way, a number of your aphorisms have stayed with me since I first read them. They often pop into my mind and become a chant. You’ve written so many memorable aphorisms! When it briefly rained yesterday, in the early evening, I chanted your “Rain is the picnic when it rains.”
Olivia, so good to hear from you! These are all wonderful. I re-read the aphorisms at your site about once a month. I always find some new sense, some new meaning. I started a blog a few months ago and have been slowly adding to it. Click on my name above and visit if you’ve got a minute to spare. Best wishes!
Marty, thanks for your comments, and I’ve been reading your blog (and have bookmarked it). Many gems there, including these:
“Language–a mirror in front of a window.”
“A dream separates, but a look unites.”
“The leaves on the water, the fog under the bridge. That’s what I believe in.”
“Words make known. But we live in the unknown.”
“Real dishes break. That’s how you know they’re real.”
“Art: a conversation through a locked door.”
I was wondering, how do you write aphorisms? (Or has this been mentioned before?) Do you perhaps carry a little notebook around with you and catch the insights/thoughts as they come to you?
Olivia-pretty much what you said. I carry a blank sheet of paper in my pocket and a pen. Most of my aphorisms arise through observation-of nature, other people, my own actions and reactions to things. Sometimes a particular word or object will strike my fancy-a kite, a balloon, a button-and a sentence or thought will start to shape itself around it.
Marty… I was interested in what you said about what can spark an aphorism for you — that it could be a word or object (“a kite, a balloon, a button”) and then you shape a thought or sentence around that.
I think that’s one way I write aphorisms, as well. An unexpected image pops in and then my consciousness does something with that moment, coloring and animating it with wonder, insight, or simply awareness. And sometimes words play in my mind, as if they’re dancing to a soundtrack. I’m fascinated with their dance, and hence find aphorisms that way too.
Do you ever edit your aphorisms after you’ve written them down? Sometimes I do, but only to get rid of extra words or to choose a word or two that feels more alive. I want an aphorism to read like a drink of fresh water.
Olivia…I do edit and revise. Some lie fallow for months, years. I return and rework them until they feel right. The music of the words is very important to me. The sound of the sentence means as much to me as the sense. There are many instances, however, where lightning strikes and it comes out right the first time, and then I’m grateful and just leave it alone. Often those turn out to be my favorites, the ones closest to my true heart.
Olivia-I posted some new aphorisms today if you’re interested. Thanks for the dialogue above. I love that kind of exchange.
Marty, thanks for the reminder, I just read the new aphorisms you posted at your blog. I’m drawn to many of them, including this one: “Let every breeze draw you out of yourself.” And the one that begins “When in doubt, leap” (reminds me of my halfway aphorism, “Link the leaps.”)
You said it well in your August 7th comment, about how you edit & revise…I experience a very similar process…and yes, sometimes “lightning strikes”.
It seems you’ve written hundreds of aphorisms.
Olivia…thousands. I’m trying (very slowly) now to assemble them into some shape or order.
Marty — not hundreds, but thousands?!
I wonder how long you’ve been writing aphorisms. And is this the only form you’ve ever written in?
Olivia-I started as a poet, but quickly switched to aphorisms. It was always that one line that enchanted me. I’ve been writing aphorisms on and off now for about 25 years.
Marty, yes, that’s the attraction: the enchantment of that one line.
Olivia, I posted some new aphorisms today. Drop by if you have a moment. Hope all is well.
Marty, somehow “You can win the lottery, but not an argument” sticks in my mind as much as “Rain is the picnic when it rains.”
Also really like: “Mannequins can’t dress themselves. Stones go wherever you throw them.” and “The things I’m not learning are teaching me a lot.” AND “It’s easy to see the dark side. All you have to do is close your eyes.”
Hi Olivia-I posted another set of aphorisms this week if you’re interested. Take care.
Thank you, Marty, I’ll check out your latest aphorisms.
I’ve been writing fragments & aphorisms spontaneously lately, at Twitter…here are a few:
“Where the wind comes from and where it goes, it’s the same for all of us.”
“The unknown and brevity. What they have in common.”
“To be alive is to improvise. Habits are only wounded improvisations.”
“You can’t close your eyes to silence.”
“Which is further away, never or forever?”
“Petrified wood, the way the past becomes the present.”
“It doesn’t matter who says it, as long as it gets said. Like the way the wind says it, or a waterfall.”
“One fragment inspires another, they’re like cells that keep dividing.”
“Winter is autumn after losing a game of strip poker with Mother Nature.”
“Space: Silence’s swimming pool.”
Olivia-I’m so glad you’re writing aphorisms again. These are wonderful. Hard to pick favorites, but here’s a few:
“Petrified wood, the way the past becomes the present.”
“The unknown and brevity. What they have in common.”
“You can’t close your eyes to silence.”
“It doesn’t matter who says it, as long as it gets said. Like the way the wind says it, or the waterfall.”
And YOUR recent aphorisms, Marty; here are a few of my favorites:
“The wind was never angry, the rain was never sad.”
“The idealist wants to make ants so small no one can step on them.”
“Even if you find the clearing you can’t stay there.”
Also, I wrote one recently that reminded me a bit of one of yours from several months ago. Here’s mine: “A daydream is a shadow’s reflection in water.”
Olivia-I posted a new set of aphorisms last week. Drop by if you have the time. If you have any new ones, post them here. I’d love to read them.
Hi Marty, here’s one of my favorites from your latest batch: “If no one gives me advice I always follow it.”
And here are a few more of mine that I’ve posted at Twitter recently:
“Sleep is loss of ego. Everyone is real when they sleep.”
“Logic is an island, intuition is the ocean surrounding it.”
“The shorter the sentence, the more it’s like a photograph.”
“What time is it? It’s always a matter of timing.”
“Life would rather be kissed than hugged.”
“Full moon: one lone stepping stone into the night sky.”
These are great, Olivia. Thanks for sharing. Post new ones here any time you feel like. I love reading them. Once again, I’m struck by a certain similarity. I think all poetic expression has something elemental in common.
Thank you, Marty. Maybe sometime, if you’re interested, I can select some of your aphorisms for FragLit Magazine. Right now I’m working on selecting some of Simon May’s aphorisms from his most recent book (his publisher sent me a copy).
Certainly. That’d be lovely. I’d like that very much.
Marty, you might send me a note via the contact form at http://www.fraglit.com so I can talk to you more about a possible selection of your aphorisms for FragLit…