What is an Epigram?

An epigram is a short poem or witty saying that deals with a single

thought or idea. There are two key things to remember about
epigrams. The first is that there's generally some wit, satire, or
comedy in the saying, which differentiates an epigram from other,
similar literary terms.

The second is that epigrams are often — though not always — in the
form of very short poems. For something to be an epigram, it needs
to meet one of these two criteria — or both.

Epigram vs Proverb

A proverb and an epigram are often easily confused. A proverb is

also a short, often witty statement, just like an epigram. They usually
pertain to life in general terms. But the main difference is, proverbs
are not often accredited to anyone.

Some of the most common proverbs are those you hear people say
so much that they have even become cliches. Here are some
examples of proverbs:

“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”

“Ignorance is bliss.”

“Fortune favors the bold.”

Epigram vs Aphorism

There are slight differences between epigrams and aphorisms. Both

are brief, witty, and often deal with a single idea or universal
“truth.” But the big difference lies in tone. Aphorisms can range in
tone from comedic to serious and everywhere in between. Also,
aphorisms are not usually in verse form.

Epigram vs Epigraph

Thanks in no small part to the similar spelling, epigrams and

epigraphs are often confused. An epigram comes at the beginning of
a story, chapter, or literary text in the form of a saying, quote, poem,
or even a proverb. An epigram stands on its own, although it can
be taken from the author's larger works, as is often the case.

An epigram can be used as an epigraph when placed at the

beginning of a literary text. However, given the wide range in tone
and style, epigraphs are not constrained by such a narrow definition
as a short, witty poem that stands on its own.

Greek and Latin Epigrams

The word epigram is derived from the Greek word for inscription. In
fact, in Ancient Greek times, they inscribed short poems on funeral
urns, statues, and headstones. The Hellenistic epigram is perhaps
the most well-known, as it became its own literary genre during that
period of history.

But while the epigram poem is still recognized today, I've revised my
definition to include the modern epigram, which doesn't necessarily
have to be in verse form. But those epigrams not in the form of
short poems are usually denoted by some sort of wit, humor, or
satire.

Epigram Examples

Below, I give you a wide range of epigrams. Like other literary

devices, epigram norms have changed since the days of ancient
Greece. So to fully understand the epigram, I have included
everything from classic to modern examples. You'll also see
several epigrams from the same author. Certainly, some writers have
excelled at creating memorable epigrams throughout history. And
chances are you'll recognize at least one famous epigram below.

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
-Oscar Wilde

“Live simply, so that others may simply live.”

-Mother Teresa

“So all my best is dressing old words new, Spending again what is
already spent: For as the sun is daily new and old, So is my love still
telling what is told.”
-William Shakespeare

“Two, by themselves, each other, love and fear,

Slain, cruel friends, by parting have join’d here.”

-John Donne

“There are no gains, without pains.”

-Benjamin Franklin

“Experience is the name everyone gives their mistakes.”

-Oscar Wilde

“Passerby,

tell the Spartans we lie

here, at Thermopylae:

dead at their word,

obedient to their command.

Have they heard?

Do they understand?”
-Simonides (Greek epigram)

“Here lies my wife: here let her lie!

Now she's at rest – and so am I.”

-John Dryden

“You say their Pictures well Painted be,

And yet they are Blockheads you all agree,

Thank God, I never was sent to School

To be Flogg’d into following the Stile of a Fool.

The Errors of a Wise Man make your Rule

Rather than the Perfections of a Fool.”

-William Blake

“I can resist anything except temptation.”

-Oscar Wilde

“Pray thee, take care, that tak'st my Book in hand,

To read it well: that is, to understand.”

-Ben Jonson

“There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that
is not being talked about.”
-Oscar Wilde

“Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain – and most fools do.”
-Benjamin Franklin
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for
your country.”
-John F Kennedy

“It is not the length of life, but the depth.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

“To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour.”

-William Blake

“It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt

“There are many humorous things in the world; among them, the white
man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages.”
-Mark Twain

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the
opportunity in every difficulty.”
-Winston Churchill

“Thus times do shift, each thing his turn does hold; New things succeed,
as former things grow old.”
-Robert Herrick

“We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but of the quarrel
with ourselves, poetry.”
-William Butler Yeats
“We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make
us love one another.”
-Jonathan Swift

“Every man I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn of

him.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

“You never know who’s swimming naked until the tide goes out.”
-Warren Buffett

“Live as if you were living a second time, and as though you had acted
wrongly the first time.”
-Viktor Frankl

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
-Epictetus

“To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to have changed often.”

-Winston Churchill

“The passionate poets seem to die younger than the reflective.”

-Jane Wilde

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it
will be too late.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same
reason.”
-Mark Twain

“Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.”
-Jose Ortega y Gasset