Traduction en anglais de : Le petit répertoire des excuses, Christine Charbonneau et Nelson Caron

Abstract

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, an utilitarian aphorism is a doctrine or principle or any generally accepted truth conveyed in a concise, memorable statement. The practice of writing such aphorisms goes back historically to classical times. People such as Theognis, Hippocrates, and Seneca are among its main practitioners. Aphorisms have been used generally in the arts, literature, agriculture, medicine, jurisprudence, and politics. The term aphorism was first used by Hippocrates, and aphorisms such as "Life is short", "Art long", "Occasion sudden and dangerous", "Experience deceitful", and "Judgement difficult" were the first to appear. Later it was gradually applied to any statement accepted as true, and it became synonymous with maxims. The model of the aphorism that is employed everywhere in literature is one that is derived, directly or indirectly, wittingly or unwittingly, from Francis Bacon's theory of the aphorism."To think and write in fragments," according to Bacon, "compels the mind to seek its own connections in established thought, and thus ensures mental activity". […]