Selected Aphorisms, Part 1
Excursions in irony (and other thought crimes)
An aphorism is a pithy statement that’s either humorous, insightful, or both. I love aphorisms. I’ve been writing them for years. Soon I will have enough for a book. In the meantime, here’s a partial selection. If you like this kind of material please follow me or subscribe.
ONE
If a single standard is good, a double standard must be twice as awesome.
TWO
One lane of the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The other is paved with reasonable-sounding ideas that are stupid.
THREE
Red tape is chaos caused by rules that were intended to tame chaos.
FOUR
The failure to learn from history owes to the widespread ignorance that there was a time before yesterday.
FIVE
History makes the most sense if you think of all the kings, queens, and politicians as Mafia crime bosses, and the rest of humanity as Patty Hearst.
SIX
Genetically identical twins are clones. You shouldn’t worry about cloning. Except for that evil twin problem.
SEVEN
It’s important to know things, but more important to know which things are worth knowing.
EIGHT
The easiest way to keep a secret is to reveal it in such a way that it’s disbelieved.
NINE
The word nominal makes me nervous. If something is “in name only,” what is it really? It could be anything. It could be Cthulhu.
TEN
Both sides claim the other side is dangerous. Both sides are right.
Copyright © Perry Willis 2024
Perry Willis is the co-founder of Downsize DC and the Zero Aggression Project. He co-created, with Jim Babka, the Read the Bills Act, the One Subject at a Time Act, and the Write the Laws Act, all of which have been introduced in Congress. He is a past Executive Director of the national Libertarian Party and was the campaign manager for Harry Browne for President in 2000.
