1,376. Aphorisms
"Perhaps the excellence of aphorisms consists not so much in the
expression of some rare or abstruse sentiment, as in the
comprehension of some 
obvious
and useful truth in a few words. We
frequently fall into error and folly, not because the true
principles of action are not known, but because, for a time, they
are not remembered; and he may therefore be justly numbered among
the benefactors of mankind who contracts the great rules of life
into short sentences, that may be easily impressed on the memory,
and taught by frequent recollection to recur habitually to the
mind."
Johnson: Rambler #175 (November 19, 1751)
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