Aphorisms by Thomas Farber
Posted on March 1, 2009
Filed Under Aphorisms | 4 Comments
Thomas Farber sums it up well, the paradox of writing aphorisms, a process that involves attempting to write something very very big in a format that is very very small: “Such an odd form: to strive for compression, verbal surprise, paradox, shock, rueful acknowledgment, or revelation of moral blindness may bring out one’s own oddities … Focusing, laser-like, on a single line—erotics of the irreducible; or working on a tiny canvas, like the 1970s artist who painted imaginary postage stamps.” Farber crams a lot into his own sayings, which he refers to as epigrams more often than as aphorisms. Many are miniature novellas—a glimpse of some hinted-at encounter, a one-sided dialogue with characters only known as ‘he’ or ‘she’. Farber is a senior lecturer in English at the University of California, Berkeley, and a recipient of Guggenheim, National Endowment,Rockefeller, Fulbright, and Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor fellowships. His sayings can be found in the books Truth Be Told and The Twoness of Oneness.
Old age. Farewells-in-progress, some not articulated. Oneself in the mirror: person to whom you must be sure to say goodbye.
“Who gives a shit?” the asshole asked, neglecting to wipe his mouth.
“I might…” Maysayer.
Writer: someone who can’t go without saying.
Material times: the going rate of self-interest.
Raised voices (should) raise skepticism.
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His rage far exceeded his range.
Fame: a million rats fighting over the same slice of cheese.
Peeking through a keyhole is not a conversation.
Cut through the red tape and there’s more red tape.
The aphorism that you cannot recal the words to after a few beers isn’t worth remembering, but I could get used to these…
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