A friend is making notes for a memoir. The next time we talk, I hope I can remember to suggest that a good place to start would be in the aphorisms, proverbs and sayings he finds himself repeating.
Aphorisms play a large role in certain kinds of lives. It would probably be revealing — and fun — to investigate where they came from.
Earlier notes in this online collection have discussed aphorisms and proverbs. I like Ronald Blythe’s definition:
A proverb is a form of words which one cannot get out of one’s head, and thus it constantly reinforces certain beliefs and actions.
That transformation from word to action sounds like biographical material to me.
• Source: Ronald Blythe, Next to Nature: A Lifetime in the English Countryside; London: John Murray, 2022, p. 175
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