--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The aphorism wants to be at the same time…" description: "\"The aphorism wants to be at the same time both main line and off beat.\" — Mason Cooley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/mason-cooley-92_and-off_the-aphorism-wants-to-be-at-the-same-tim_620740.png" --- # The aphorism wants to be at the same time both main line… ![“The aphorism wants to be at the same time both main line and off beat.” quote by Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/mason-cooley-92_and-off_the-aphorism-wants-to-be-at-the-same-tim_620740.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/mason-cooley-92_and-off_the-aphorism-wants-to-be-at-the-same-tim_620740.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/mason-cooley-92_and-off_the-aphorism-wants-to-be-at-the-same-tim_620740.png) > “The aphorism wants to be at the same time both main line and off beat.” [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An aphorism should balance central meaning with unexpected rhythm, engaging the mind. **In simple terms:** Aphorisms blend main idea and off‑beat. Key Takeaway Craft balanced, surprising statements. Themes literature humor rhythm balance Mood playful thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing aphorisms - public speaking - teaching Key Concepts poetics cognitive surprise Questions to Reflect On - How do you achieve balance in a short phrase? - What makes an off‑beat line memorable? A Different Perspective Too much off‑beat can obscure meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [And off](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/and-off/) [Aphorism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aphorism/) [Aphorism Wants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aphorism-wants-5023308/) [Beats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beats/) [Line Beat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/line-beat-5023309/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Main Line](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/main-line-5023310/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Wants Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wants-time-939134/) ## Related quotes > [When you find a guy that wants to be with you all the time, you think that's love, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-le/when-you-find-a-guy-that-wants-to-be-with-you-all-the-time-you-think/) [Michel'le](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-le/) > [I'm one of those people who really wants to do everything. And if I had enough time, I really would.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-popplewell/i-m-one-of-those-people-who-really-wants-to-do-everything-and-if-i/) [Anna Popplewell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-popplewell/) > [“Day has turned into night has turned into day, the movement of the hands on the clock nothing but a signal that we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ellis/day-has-turned-into-night-has-turned-into-day-the-movement-of-the/) [David Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ellis/) > [Dear men,You might think she wants your car your money and gifts, but the RIGHT WOMAN wants your time, your smile, your honesty, your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dear-men-you-might-think-she-wants-your-car-your-money-and-gifts-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [He who wants everything every time will lose everything any time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/he-who-wants-everything-every-time-will-lose-everything-any-time/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [“You spend long moments worrying and wondering only to see the wash up on the shore of a sea of wasted hours. Only to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-thrasher/you-spend-long-moments-worrying-and-wondering-only-to-see-the-wash-up/) [Travis Thrasher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-thrasher/) > [One wants more time, more youth. That is it. That is all one asks for - nothing but that, a little more time. Hear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-borden/one-wants-more-time-more-youth-that-is-it-that-is-all-one-asks-for/) [Mary Borden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-borden/) > [Not everyone wants you all the time, Jace," he said. "Don't be ridiculous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/not-everyone-wants-you-all-the-time-jace-he-said-don-t-be-ridiculous/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [“Doesn't the female always take what she wants and at the same time try to hang on to what she already has?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-petry/doesn-t-the-female-always-take-what-she-wants-and-at-the-same-time/) [Ann Petry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-petry/) > [Life called me today. It wants it's time back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-j-heckel/life-called-me-today-it-wants-it-s-time-back/) [Robert J Heckel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-j-heckel/) > [Every man, in judging of himself, is his own contemporary. He may feel the gale of popularity, but he cannot tell how long it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/every-man-in-judging-of-himself-is-his-own-contemporary-he-may-feel/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [A man who wants time to read and write must let the grass grow long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloan-wilson/a-man-who-wants-time-to-read-and-write-must-let-the-grass-grow-long/) [Sloan Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloan-wilson/) > [What she wants to do if she can get the time to do it, is not so much to live in the past as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/what-she-wants-to-do-if-she-can-get-the-time-to-do-it-is-not-so-much/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [Nobody wants their time wasted or feelings played with. If you keep it 100 with me, you'll get a 100 from me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nobody-wants-their-time-wasted-or-feelings-played-with-if-you-keep-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Finding a thought for an aphorism is not hard. Putting a kink in its tail is the hard part.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/finding-a-thought-for-an-aphorism-is-not-hard-putting-a-kink-in-its/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## More by Mason Cooley > [Nostalgia keeps dissolving the ironic narratives in which I have contained my past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/nostalgia-keeps-dissolving-the-ironic-narratives-in-which-i-have/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Even the most abject have a sense of superiority based on powerful though undefined merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-abject-have-a-sense-of-superiority-based-on-powerful/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Money comes to life as it is spent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/money-comes-to-life-as-it-is-spent/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Even the most fickle are faithful to a few bad habits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-fickle-are-faithful-to-a-few-bad-habits/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/rage-is-exciting-but-leaves-me-confused-and-exhausted/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Literary tradition is full of lies about poverty-the jolly beggar, the poor but happy milkmaid, the wholesome diet of porridge, etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/literary-tradition-is-full-of-lies-about-poverty-the-jolly-beggar-the/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Experience teaches us, but we scarcely know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/experience-teaches-us-but-we-scarcely-know-what/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The body has a mind of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-body-has-a-mind-of-its-own/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [In retirement, I look for days off from my days off. Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/in-retirement-i-look-for-days-off-from-my-days-off-mason-cooley/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [My intentions go one way, my desires another. Thus I feel both self-indulgent and deprived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/my-intentions-go-one-way-my-desires-another-thus-i-feel-both-self/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The Puritan sours his pleasures by disguising them as duties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-puritan-sours-his-pleasures-by-disguising-them-as-duties/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Unlike the actual, the fictional explains itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/unlike-the-actual-the-fictional-explains-itself/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Vacations prove that a life of pleasure is overrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/vacations-prove-that-a-life-of-pleasure-is-overrated/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Outside literature, high-flown sentiments are merely exasperating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/outside-literature-high-flown-sentiments-are-merely-exasperating/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) [Explore all 1,401 Mason Cooley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## More And off quotes > [We will also target tax evasion and off-shore tax havens... 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I just do it and, when I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-murphy/whenever-i-am-on-camera-or-doing-anything-on-mic-i-don-t-have-any/) [Eddie Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-murphy/) > [Pain is an interesting and off-putting thing. Few if any things in life concentrate our attention so completely and terribly, and few things are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/pain-is-an-interesting-and-off-putting-thing-few-if-any-things-in/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [I took great pride in my performance on and off the field, and often questioned why our culture embraces alcohol while simultaneously stigmatizing those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-stepnoski/i-took-great-pride-in-my-performance-on-and-off-the-field-and-often/) [Mark Stepnoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-stepnoski/) > [There are no shortcuts. I approached practices the same way I approached games. You can't turn it on and off like a faucet. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jordan/there-are-no-shortcuts-i-approached-practices-the-same-way-i/) [Michael Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jordan/) > [If everyone's happy, then I'm the character where when I enter that means there's trouble. In a movie, when I enter, it's not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-crews/if-everyone-s-happy-then-i-m-the-character-where-when-i-enter-that/) [Terry Crews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-crews/) > [You can develop a burning desire to succeed. How? Keep your mind on the things you want and off the things you don't want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-clement-stone/you-can-develop-a-burning-desire-to-succeed-how-keep-your-mind-on-the/) [W. Clement Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-clement-stone/) > [People might think you can turn creativity on and off, but it's not like that. It just kind of comes out. 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