--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An aphorism is a single sentence that…" description: "\"An aphorism is a single sentence that totally exhausts its subject.\" — Robert Breault" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebe/robert-breault-304_aphorism_an-aphorism-is-a-single-sentence-that-to_2320630.png" --- # An aphorism is a single sentence that totally exhausts its… ![“An aphorism is a single sentence that totally exhausts its subject.” quote by Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebe/robert-breault-304_aphorism_an-aphorism-is-a-single-sentence-that-to_2320630.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebe/robert-breault-304_aphorism_an-aphorism-is-a-single-sentence-that-to_2320630.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebe/robert-breault-304_aphorism_an-aphorism-is-a-single-sentence-that-to_2320630.png) > “An aphorism is a single sentence that totally exhausts its subject.” [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A concise statement can fully capture a topic's essence in one line. **In simple terms:** A single sentence can fully explain a subject. Key Takeaway Use brevity to convey complete ideas. Themes brevity clarity communication Mood thoughtful analytical Type literary educational When to use this quote - writing - teaching - public speaking Key Concepts aphorism conciseness Questions to Reflect On - Can you think of a subject that resists a single-sentence summary? - When does brevity hinder understanding? A Different Perspective A single sentence may oversimplify complex topics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aphorism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aphorism/) [Aphorism Single](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aphorism-single-5546745/) [Exhausts Subject](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exhausts-subject-5546746/) [Quoting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quoting/) [Sentences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentences/) [Single sentence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-sentence/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Totally Exhausts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/totally-exhausts-5546747/) ## Related quotes > [The trick to writing an aphorism is to place a period at the point where you're inclined to say, "in other words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/the-trick-to-writing-an-aphorism-is-to-place-a-period-at-the-point/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [I believe aphorisms are best when first read in the wild, free from the confines of any categories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/i-believe-aphorisms-are-best-when-first-read-in-the-wild-free-from/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [An aphorism is not an aphorism unless you know what it means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/an-aphorism-is-not-an-aphorism-unless-you-know-what-it-means/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [There is nothing more difficult to define than an aphorism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-is-nothing-more-difficult-to-define-than-an-aphorism/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [Writing an upbeat aphorism is a temptation, but decorum forbids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/writing-an-upbeat-aphorism-is-a-temptation-but-decorum-forbids/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [APHORISM, n. Predigested wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/aphorism-n-predigested-wisdom/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Aphorism, n.: A concise, clever statement you don’t think of until too late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-alexander-thom/aphorism-n-a-concise-clever-statement-you-don-t-think-of-until-too/) [James Alexander Thom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-alexander-thom/) > [An apt aphorism half kills, half immortalizes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/an-apt-aphorism-half-kills-half-immortalizes/) [Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/) > [An aphorism that does not score is just one more sentence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/an-aphorism-that-does-not-score-is-just-one-more-sentence/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [An aphorism is a personal observation inflated into a universal truth, a private posing as a general.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-kanfer/an-aphorism-is-a-personal-observation-inflated-into-a-universal-truth/) [Stefan Kanfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-kanfer/) > [The excellence of aphorisms consists not so much in the expression of some rare or abstruse sentiment, as in the comprehension of some useful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-excellence-of-aphorisms-consists-not-so-much-in-the-expression-of/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [APHORISM, n. Predigested wisdom. The flabby wine-skin of his brain Yields to some pathologic strain, And voids from its unstored abysm The driblet of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/aphorism-n-predigested-wisdom-the-flabby-wine-skin-of-his-brain/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Aphorisms are not true or false, but pointed or flat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/aphorisms-are-not-true-or-false-but-pointed-or-flat/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [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/) > [An aphorism is a mental exercise, psychical, logical, linguistic, spiritual, ritual, emotional and rational, it is a major conceptual and literary activity, a mixture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-brown/an-aphorism-is-a-mental-exercise-psychical-logical-linguistic/) [William C. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-brown/) ## More by Robert Breault > [You will not find a soulmate in the quiet of your room. You must go to a noisy place and look in the quiet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/you-will-not-find-a-soulmate-in-the-quiet-of-your-room-you-must-go-to/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Never mind the odds against you. If you doubled your effort, what would the odds against you do — send for reinforcements?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/never-mind-the-odds-against-you-if-you-doubled-your-effort-what-would/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Of course I doubt. I do not practice a certainty. I practice a faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/of-course-i-doubt-i-do-not-practice-a-certainty-i-practice-a-faith/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Retirement is having nothing to do and someone always keeping you from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/retirement-is-having-nothing-to-do-and-someone-always-keeping-you/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [There is in art the notion of less is more, which is to say, you don't torture a painting that has already confessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/there-is-in-art-the-notion-of-less-is-more-which-is-to-say-you-don-t/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [One's dream is defeated not by unsolvable problems, but by all the more-or-less satisfactory solutions that kill it forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/one-s-dream-is-defeated-not-by-unsolvable-problems-but-by-all-the/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [I cultivate my garden, and my garden cultivates me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/i-cultivate-my-garden-and-my-garden-cultivates-me/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [In the end you regret less the things you believed that weren't true than the things that never came true because you didn't believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/in-the-end-you-regret-less-the-things-you-believed-that-weren-t-true/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [The trick to getting ahead is to give it the same effort you give to getting even.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/the-trick-to-getting-ahead-is-to-give-it-the-same-effort-you-give-to/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Man will have replicated his own intelligence not when he teaches a computer to reason but when he teaches a computer to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/man-will-have-replicated-his-own-intelligence-not-when-he-teaches-a/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [To hurt someone you know will forgive you is the unkindiest thing of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/to-hurt-someone-you-know-will-forgive-you-is-the-unkindiest-thing-of/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [For every person who atones, a hundred others find regret sufficient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/for-every-person-who-atones-a-hundred-others-find-regret-sufficient/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [As a means to success, determination has this advantage over talent - that it does not have to be recognized by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/as-a-means-to-success-determination-has-this-advantage-over-talent/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [As a gardener, I wonder if flowers really can't speak or just exercise unfailing good judgment in the matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/as-a-gardener-i-wonder-if-flowers-really-can-t-speak-or-just-exercise/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Genius is a plodding intellect, incapable of dreaming up the obstacles that stop the rest of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/genius-is-a-plodding-intellect-incapable-of-dreaming-up-the-obstacles/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) [Explore all 710 Robert Breault quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) ## More Aphorism quotes > [“Who flies high, easily chooses his target.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/who-flies-high-easily-chooses-his-target/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“For their never-ending endeavours to obtain or retain wealth, countries desperately need companies, because they—unlike most human beings—have the means of production, and human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/for-their-never-ending-endeavours-to-obtain-or-retain-wealth/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Listen! The court jester's cap and bells. The King is coming!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/listen-the-court-jester-s-cap-and-bells-the-king-is-coming/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“An expensive coffin does not decrease the deceased’s chances of going to hell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/an-expensive-coffin-does-not-decrease-the-deceased-s-chances-of-going/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“The eleventh commandment of art: thou shalt not be boring.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-m-driscoll/the-eleventh-commandment-of-art-thou-shalt-not-be-boring/) [W.M. Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-m-driscoll/) > [A journal takes the place of a confidant, that is, of friend or wife; it becomes a substitute for production, a substitute for country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-journal-takes-the-place-of-a-confidant-that-is-of-friend-or-wife-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A premature death does not only rob one of the countless instances where one would have experienced pleasure, it also saves one from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-premature-death-does-not-only-rob-one-of-the-countless-instances/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“The real purpose of the opposition is to minimize the amount of money the ruling party will have stolen from the people at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/the-real-purpose-of-the-opposition-is-to-minimize-the-amount-of-money/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“I played the best role in my life. I had a great director.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/i-played-the-best-role-in-my-life-i-had-a-great-director/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“Be ware! Santa Claus is a fake profile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/be-ware-santa-claus-is-a-fake-profile/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“He who lies and steals ...and forms a government.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/he-who-lies-and-steals-and-forms-a-government/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“I got married. A bright past is ahead of me!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/i-got-married-a-bright-past-is-ahead-of-me/) [ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“People who smile while they are alone used to be called insane, until we invented smartphones and social media.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/people-who-smile-while-they-are-alone-used-to-be-called-insane-until/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Why must an aphorism be brief? Because only a fool gives a speech in a burning house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/why-must-an-aphorism-be-brief-because-only-a-fool-gives-a-speech-in-a/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [How many of us have been attracted to reason; first learned to think, to draw conclusions, to extract a moral from the follies of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-many-of-us-have-been-attracted-to-reason-first-learned-to-think/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 399 Aphorism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aphorism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "An aphorism is a single sentence that totally exhausts its subject.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Breault" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/an-aphorism-is-a-single-sentence-that-totally-exhausts-its-subject/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aphorism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/an-aphorism-is-a-single-sentence-that-totally-exhausts-its-subject/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebe/robert-breault-304_aphorism_an-aphorism-is-a-single-sentence-that-to_2320630.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebe/robert-breault-304_aphorism_an-aphorism-is-a-single-sentence-that-to_2320630.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebe/robert-breault-304_aphorism_an-aphorism-is-a-single-sentence-that-to_2320630.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An aphorism is a single sentence that totally exhausts its subject.” — Robert Breault", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert Breault", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "An aphorism is a single sentence...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/an-aphorism-is-a-single-sentence-that-totally-exhausts-its-subject/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/an-aphorism-is-a-single-sentence-that-totally-exhausts-its-subject/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```