Irena Karafilly is an author, journalist, and occasional university lecturer who lives in Montreal. Born in the Russian Urals, Karafilly has won Canada’s National Magazine Award (Gold) for Fiction as well as other literary prizes. She holds an M.A. in English from McGill University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. She is the author of three books and of numerous short stories. Her most recent book, The Stranger in the Plumed Hat, is a memoir of caring for her mother with Alzheimer’s disease. Karafilly is also an aphorist, and a small sample of her aphorisms follows. More of her aphorisms can be found by clicking here.

The really amazing thing about history is not that it so often repeats itself, but that it fails to bore us.

Falling in love is like falling anywhere. You pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and keep on walking, hoping no one saw you.

The only power you have over people is the ability to do without them.

If human beings were born with a conscience, God would be out of a job.

Eating an artichoke requires a certain amount of optimism.