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“An
aphorism is a general truth or observation about life, usually stated
concisely. Often witty and wise, aphorisms appear in many kinds of
works. An essay writer may have an aphoristic style, making many such
statements” (Wiggins R24).
1999 In the movie Moulin Rouge from 2002, it is a young man that has left his home on the search to find love. He leaves his secure life behind to find love, because it does not matter how you live as long as you have love. Throughout the movie it is debated whether or not falling in love with a women of burlesque can actually be considered love or lust, the quote in the video, “When love is for the highest bidder, there can be no trust. Without trust, there can be no love” it concisely puts onto the table that love if bought at any price, it is not called love. As an observation made by one of the characters, proves to be true, because a human infatuated by love will be tempted with lust and most usually subside to the thought that something is better than nothing at all. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a great romanticist writer, used aphorisms to reach a complete new level of thought. Through the romanticist movement the changing of thought and the developing mind, became a popular aspect of that time, ranging from literature to art the freedom of expression took humanity a step forward. Emerson had an aphoristic style, he made statements such as, “To be great is to be misunderstood” (Emerson) in his famous poem Self-Reliance. The aphorism example in the previous sentence was found at the end of the poem which Emerson had used to leave the reader thinking, taking their mind and thoughts further than ever before. In Self-Reliance especially the aphoristic style was used to set the tone of the period, aphorisms appear as a general statement about life and meaning of being alive. Henry David Thoreau, an Aphoristic writer, endeavours the human mind in the means of aphorisms. In 1845 Thoreau moved away from societal distractions to obtain a better grasp on humanity, which then inspired the story From Walden, an in detailed tale of his findings and adventures. A passage from From Walden states, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived (Thoreau). Thoreau deliberately used aphorisms to deepen the reader's thoughts, but at the same time it was a sense of writing Thoreau was accustomed to. His aphoristic style came naturally due to the immense time he spent pondering upon natural truths of the world. |