apothegms
Brief wise statements
Apothegms are pithy, instructive sayings—memorable statements that pack wisdom into few words.
The term is more formal than "saying" or "maxim" and often appears in literary or philosophical contexts: The essay was peppered with apothegms from ancient philosophers.
Also spelled apophthegms.
Concise and forceful
- conciseBriefly and clearly stated
- terseBrief to bluntness
- succinctExpressed with minimal words
- epigrammaticCleverly concise in expression
quotable · memorable · pointed · laconic · witty · brevity · punchline · bon mot
Brief moral principle
- adageTraditional pithy truth
- sayingShort, wise expression
- axiomSelf-evident starting principle
- epigramPithy, memorable saying
dictum · precept · truism · motto · gnome · moral · saw · byword
Gathered works assembled together
- anthologyCollected literary works volume
- collectionGathered set of items
- commonplace bookCurated collection of extracts
- quotationCited passage or price
attribution · authorship · classical · Plutarch · Erasmus · Franklin · Confucius · La Rochefoucauld
pithy
Concise and forceful
epigrammatic · quotable · memorable · pointed · laconic · witty · brevity · punchline · bon mot · quip
maxim
Brief moral principle
epigram · dictum · precept · truism · motto · gnome · moral · saw · byword · nugget
compilation
Gathered works assembled together
- anthologyCollected literary works volume
- collectionGathered set of items
- commonplace bookCurated collection of extracts
quotation · attribution · authorship · classical · Plutarch · Erasmus · Franklin · Confucius · La Rochefoucauld · Marcus Aurelius
apothegmstreatises
Formal scholarly compositions
dissertations · tomes · monographs · screeds · diatribes
apothegmsgibberish
Unintelligible speech or writing
circumlocutions · verbal diarrhea · gobbledygook · obfuscations
apothegmsplatitudes
Trite moral remarks
banalities · clichés · bromides · drivel · nonsense