It is considered as a short sentence containing a teaching, generally of a moral nature. In this sense, apothegms are similar to popular sayings, aphorisms, proverbs, axioms, maxims or adages.
We must say that the apothegm originally comes from a Greek word composed of two clearly differentiated parts: the particle "apo", which can be translated as "outside" or "far", and the verb "phthengesthai", which is synonymous with "declare". Apothegms usually present a philosophical evaluation. With a few words, a profound knowledge transmitted invites reflection.
The aphorism is usually created by an individual who is credited with authorship. Proverbs, on the other hand, are born of people and are anonymous. The same is true of proverbs that, furthermore, implicitly carry a warning.
The apothegm, therefore, is more similar to the aphorism than to the proverb, since its author is generally known. The main difference between the apothegm and the aphorism is that the former generally does not cover serious problems, besides being pleasant or funny. That is why the apothegm can also be a gracefully spoken sentence that does not include moral content.
We must bear in mind that philosophy had become the new rational model that replaced the mythical stories of the past and in philosophical texts (especially those related to ethics) it was necessary to resort to a type of simple, direct and clear sentences that showed a concrete idea. Therefore, philosophers like Aristotle or the sophists resort to the apothegm as a simplified formula to express their ideas.
They are the apothegms that are used in different sectors of our society. This happens, for example, in the field of politics. In this case, important prayers of this type have arisen throughout history and a good example is set by the former president of Argentina, Juan Domingo Perón. And he went so far as to affirm that the Peronists were like cats, because when it seemed that they were fighting, what they were really doing was reproducing.
Another example of apothegm can be the one that the writer Jorge Luis Borges pronounced about the people who belong to the Peronist movement: "The Peronists are neither good nor bad: they are incorrigible."
