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Mark Twain once said, "I never let school interfere with my education." That's just one example of an aphorism from a new collection of the handy sayings gathered and annotated by author James Geary. His book is, The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism. The book chronicles many of the form's sharpest and most famous practitioners.

Selected aphorisms featured in The World in a Phrase:

"When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are things to be ashamed of. When a country is ill governed, riches and honors are things to be ashamed of."
Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.)


"Do not regard as valuable anything that can be taken away."
Seneca (circa 4 B.C.E.-65)


"A thought is a thing as real as a cannonball."
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)


"Truths are illusions of which one has forgotten that they are illusions."
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)


"Irreverence is the champion of liberty, and its only sure defense."
Mark Twain (1835-1910)


"You ought to be thankful, a whole heaping lot,
For the places and people you're lucky you're not."
Dr. Seuss (1904-1991)


"Optimists and pessimists differ only on the date of the end of the world."
Stanislaw Jerzy Lec (1909-1966)


Post some of your favorite sayings.