Over the past few months, I had the great good fortune to devise and teach a course called Aphorisms: From Ideas to Action at Bennington College’s Center for the Advancement of Public Action. This was a special experience for me, since it was from here that I graduated in 1985, here that I included a collection of aphorisms as part of my senior thesis, here that I started doing my ‘aphorisms in the globe’ shtick, and here that I met my wife. The experience was all the more special because of the great group of students I had in my class. We read and talked about aphorisms in every possible permutation during the course of the term and, of course, we wrote aphorisms, too. Some students opted to write a collection of aphorisms as their final paper, but we all composed aphorisms (sometimes inadvertently) as part of the course. The students’ work was exceptional. Below is a selection of some of the aphorisms they came up with over the past 13 weeks…

For the sake of the writers’ ideas, ‘less is more’ is a proverb to be applied to candy and glue, not to aphorisms. —Catherine Lentini

Aphorisms help you overhear yourself thinking. —Molly Case

I cannot see past myself, yet all that I see is beyond me. —Silas van der Swaagh

To rebel one must wear the right uniform. —Devan Marques

Be your own definition. —Amanda Haggerty

Secure your own mask before helping others. —Jan-Erik Asplund

There’s no point criticizing the rules of a game you can’t change; you’ve just got to learn them and play them as best as you can. —Corey Ecay

You can only understand the power of language once you have lost it. —Lauren Glading

Sometimes a dumb thing is a thing worth saying. —Alan Dupont

College is a place where the people who need it least are told things that the world needs to know. —Dylan Scott

Jealousy is affinity plus allergy. —Emma Schmelzer

The constant is that things are always being torn down. —Samuel Mayer

Visit a city to observe the behavior of animals. —Anna Eckert-Kramer

First impressions are the last chance to impress. —Lila Cutter

Even the most sophisticated dinner party has trouble under its tabletop. —Hannah Davidson