Aphorisms by Sami Feiring

Sami Feiring is a Finnish aphorist, a teacher of aphoristic technique, president of the Aphorism Association of Finland since 2005, and a founding member of World Aphorism Organization. He curates the Finnish Aphorism site, where a selection of Finnish aphorisms is available in translation in several languages. He also compiled an index to Geary’s Guide, in which aphorists can be searched for by country. (You can download the index from Sami’s ‘Modern Gnomologists’ listing on the What Is Gnomology? page.) Sami shares with many of his aphoristic compatriots a focus on social and political issues; a concern for social justice and political rectitude runs through many Finnish aphorisms. And, of course, there is always that tinge of existentialism around the edges. Reading these aphorisms you get the sense that the extraordinary lurks behind the everyday, that a leaky faucet may be a prelude to the Flood…

God rested on the seventh day. Do skeptics get a day off?

Power-hungry politicians eat their words.

Knowledge is power, especially when you conceal it.

The biggest lies come in the most attractive packaging.

When politicians stumble, soldiers fall.

If nature could speak, it would remain silent.

Uniforms are body bags.

The Flood will dry our tears.

If Hell went bankrupt, Heaven would have fewer customers.

Dreaming opens your eyes.