A collection of aphorisms from the likes of La Rouchefoucald, Samuel johnson and Virginia Woolf.

John Gross was editor of the Times Literary Supplement from 1974 to 1981 and on the staff of the New York Times from 1983 to 1988. He has been theatre critic of the Sunday Telegraph since 1989 and is the editor of other Oxford anthologies and After Shakespeare: An Anthology, published this year to rave reviews.

• Introduction


• Aphorists and Aphorisms I


• Nature


• Mankind


• Life


• Desires and Longings


• Fears, Hopes, Passions


• Design and Chance


• Individuals


• The Sense of Identity


• Self-Love


• Self-Knowledge


• Self-Doubt


• One Among Many


• Fame and Reputation


• The Arts of Success


• Action and Achievement


• Money and Rank


• The Social Fabric


• Love, Jealousy, Libido


• Happiness and Sorrow


• Good and Evil


• etc