The Flea and Elephant: Various Aphorisms


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Following are a series of a aphorsims I've heard and read, and -- in a couple instances -- thought up. If any or all of these are of interest, feel free to copy and use them in whatever way you see fit.

A flea and an elephant crossed a bridge: "Wow!" said the flea, "We sure shook that thing."

Sometimes it is better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than to speak up and leave no doubt.

Sometimes a man with a clean conscience only has a bad memory.

I believe in the sun even when it is dark. I believe in God even when He is silent.

The refusal of praise is only the wish to be praised twice.

Power corrupts. Television corrupts absolutely.

The eagle that soars near the sun is not concerned about how to cross the stream.

There is nothing the body suffers by which the soul may not profit.

At least those who are always talking about others don't have time to talk about themselves.

Those of whom we speak least are often best known in heaven.

You cannot logically come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as logic.

Beware of trusting to God matters which God has clearly entrusted to you.

Never yell at your spouse unless the house is on fire.

To be a slave to one's self is the heaviest of all servitudes.

If one devil tempts the busy man; a thousand tempt the lazy man.

The drummer who never learned to beat retreat won many a victory.

How candid we are in confessing other peoples' sins.

Thrice blessed is he who can't remember what he ought to forget about others.

Forgive the penitent for their sake; the impenitent for your own.

The lazier a man is, the more he intends to do tomorrow.

Nietzche: "God is dead." God: "Nietzche is dead."

Others will follow your footsteps more easily than they will follow your advice.

Taking a trip, pray once. Going to war, pray twice. Getting married, pray thrice.

An open mind and an open mouth are valuable in the same way: they should both be shut again on something good.

Nothing blinds us to sin as much as that sin being our own.

It's a pity we can't all exchange problems: Everybody knows how to solve the other person's.

If you must compare yourself with others, compare their worst with your worst, not their worst with your best.

He who abandons himself to God will not be abandoned by God.

One good thing about telling the truth is you don't have to remember what you said.

Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half closed afterward.

How vile appear the sins we have not committed.

A kind word is an easy obligation.

If you don't get everything you want, be thankful for the things you don't want and don't get.

A religion without mystery is a religion without God.

What you are when you are not trying to be anything is what you really are.

When in Rome, do as the Romans ought to do.

There is something wrong if you know the right thing to do yet want to think about it.

The real doubter is searching for truth, not wearing his doubt with pride.

No sin is small, for it is against an infinite God.

A minute of keeping your mouth shut is better than an hour of explanations.

We know how much God hates sin by the sacrifice he made to atone for it.

Jesus sends none away empty but those who are full of themselves.



“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11