Unwearying Aphorisms

R. J. Snell reviews Doublethink/Doubletalk: Naturalizing Second Thoughts & Twofold Speech, by Eva Brann, at The University Bookman.

"The dialogue and the aphorism remain somewhat immune to these doldrums, although difficult to do well. Of these two, aphorism retains immediacy and power, in part because amenable to ambivalence, playfulness, and leisureliness. At times, aphorisms are merely witty, but they can convey and evoke sustained reflection and thought, as those of Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, or Nicolás Gómez Dávila.

"To that list we can add Eva Brann, tutor at St. John’s College since 1957 and something of an icon of its great books program."