Definition and Examples of Maxims

Definition and Examples of Maxims Maxim, proverb, gnome, aphorism, apothegm, sententia―all of these terms mean essentially the same thing: a short, easily remembered expression of a basic principle, general truth or rule of conduct. Think of a maxim as a nugget of wisdom―or at least of apparent wisdom. Maxims are universal and testify to the commonality of human existence. It is often difficult to tell whether a maxim means something, or something means maxim.   -  Robert Benchley, Maxims from the Chinese Maxims, you see, are tricky devices. As Benchley suggests in his comic chiasmus, they generally sound pretty convincing at least until a contrary maxim comes along. Look before you leap, we say with conviction. That is, until we remember that he who hesitates is lost. Examples of Dueling Maxims English is full of such contrary proverbs (or, as we prefer to call them, dueling maxims): The bigger the better / Good things come in small packages.Whats good for the goose is good for the gander. / One mans meat is another mans poison.Birds of a feather flock together./ Opposites attract.Actions speak louder than words. / The pen is mightier than the sword.Youre never too old to learn. / You cant teach an old dog new tricks.All good things come to those who wait. / Time and tide wait for no man.Many hands make light work. / Too many cooks spoil the broth.Absence makes the heart grow fonder. / Out of sight, out of mind.Its better to be safe than sorry. / Nothing ventured, nothing gained. As William Mathews said, All maxims have their antagonist maxims; proverbs should be sold in pairs, a single one being but a half truth. Maxims as Strategies But then, we might ask, what is the nature of proverbial truth? In his essay Literature as Equipment for Living, rhetorician Kenneth Burke argued that proverbs are strategies designed for dealing with situationsfor consolation or vengeance, for admonition or exhortation, for foretelling. And different situations call for different proverbs: The apparent contradictions depend upon differences in attitude , involving a correspondingly different choice of strategy . Consider, for instance, the apparently opposite pair: Repentance comes too late and Never too late to mend. The first is admonitory. It says in effect: Youd better look out, or youll get yourself too far into this business. The second is consolatory, saying in effect: Buck up, old man, you can still pull out of this. ( The Philosophy of Literary Form, 3rd edition, Louisiana State University Press, 1967) Maxims in an Oral Culture In any event, the maxim is a handy device, especially for people in predominately oral culturesthose that rely on speech rather than writing to pass along knowledge. Some of the common stylistic features of maxims (features that help us remember them) include parallelism, antithesis, chiasmus, alliteration, paradox, hyperbole  and ellipsis. The Rhetoric of Aristotle According to Aristotle in his Rhetoric, the maxim is also a persuasive device, convincing listeners by conveying an impression of wisdom and experience. Because maxims are so common, he says, They seem true, as if everyone agreed. But that doesnt mean that all of us have earned the right to use maxims. Theres a minimum age requirement, Aristotle tells us: Speaking in maxims is appropriate to those older in years and on subjects of which one is experienced, since to speak maxims is unseemly for one too young, as is storytelling; and on matters in which one is inexperienced it is silly and shows lack of education. There is an adequate sign of this: country folks are most inclined to strike maxims and readily show themselves off. ( Aristotle On Rhetoric : A Theory of Civic Discourse, translated by George A. Kennedy, Oxford University Press, 1991) Finally, we might keep in mind this bit of proverbial wisdom from Mark Twain: It is more trouble to make a maxim than it is to do right.

Evernotes Beat Buhlmann How I became the CEO of my own life

Evernotes Beat Buhlmann How I became the CEO of my own life Evernote's Beat Buhlmann: "How I became the CEO of my own life" Beat Buhlmann is the General Manager of Evernote EMEA. With ten years of life management coaching under his belt, he decided to write a book about personal development planning and how it can help people manage their work goals and personal lives simultaneously. His book, Become the CEO of Your Own Life, was published earlier this year, an achievement that Beat credits in part to two time-saving friends to authors: Evernote and Reedsy. Read on to learn how these two tools came into play during the writing process, and to learn more about Beat's strategies for taking control of personal and career development.How did you get started on writing your new book, Become the CEO of Your Own Life?Working so intensively in the field of life management coaching was not my plan when I set out to start my career after graduation. As I began working, I quickly realized the importance of distinguishing between people management and business management. I also realized the importance of allowing an d encouraging individuals to accomplish goals not only professionally, but also in their personal lives - both parts are important if you want to create an environment of trust in the workplace.However, in today’s rapidly changing and hectic workplace laden with distractions and constant overload, managing one’s own life can be a challenge. To this end, I created a personal development plan (PDP) called the Swiss PDP Approach ®. For several years, I coached companies such as Dell, Google, and Evernote implement the Swiss PDP Approach ® to support their teams’ efforts to combine and align private and business life in an effective and meaningful manner. In today’s workplace laden with constant overload, managing one’s life can be a challenge. The Swiss PDP Approach ® is a simple approach but it works well, and I was getting increasingly more requests from Google managers around the world to hold people development training sessions for their teams. However, there came a point when I could no longer keep up with the demand - I still had a full-time job. I ended up having to to say â€Å"no, sorry† to many people, which was a difficult task, as turning down meaningful opportunities went against my inner beliefs. The first person whose request I declined was Matt Brittin, EMEA President at Google. It was Matt who encouraged me to write a book to share and spread my Swiss PDP Approach ®. So I did.What is the Swiss PDP Approach ® and how can it be applied to writers?One of the key elements of the Swiss PDP Approach ® is its non-silo approach. Far too often, people raise a wall between their private life and their work life (creating two silos). However, that does not make sense - what happens in your private l ife has an impact on your work life and vice versa. Therefore, I suggest a holistic, integrated view, as you can see in the following diagram: One of the main parts of the Swiss PDP Approach ® is about getting to know yourself, and I believe this is a vital step for any author looking to write a book, whether fiction or nonfiction. The following image shows you the three steps of the Swiss PDP Approach ®, the objective of each step, and who should support you: How did writing your book in Evernote affect your writing process?How do you write a book nowadays? How do you manage the vast amount of resources, literature, ideas, chapters, etc.? I can truly see the difference in the writing process between my first book, published 12 years ago, and my current one: Evernote. Evernote has been a game changer for me - it’s saved me so much time. Every idea, article, book, video, and audio recording is kept in Evernote and synchronized across all my devices. Having everything in one place allowed me to write whenever and wherever I wanted, whether it be commuting on the train, waiting at the airport, or during a flight.As the biggest challenge I faced while writing was finding the time, Evernote helped me jump a huge hurdle. I have a full-time job, I have a family, and I am a part-time EMBA professor at various universities. Finding the time to write was not easy, but thanks to Evernote, I could write during every opportunity I had: no matte r where or when, my book draft was always with me. My  biggest writing challenge was finding time. Evernote let  me write whenever/wherever I wanted. How did using Reedsy impact your book?When I was contacted by Reedsy  about a potential partnership, I first wanted to get to know the product better. As I was in the process of writing my second book, I started by using the Reedsy Book Editor to finish writing my manuscript. I took a liking to its  simple user interface and its marketplace for finding professional editors and designers.As my book is a practitioner’s book, I needed editors who could not only check for grammar and spelling errors, but also make sure that the book was clear and easy to understand. Being a non-native English speaker, it was important for me to not work with an editor who would simply rewrite everything. Yes, a native English speaker might formulate a sentence differently than me, but so what?  I wanted the book to be authentic and to sound like me. I stand for 100% quality and it is important to me that I write the books myself. Finding editors who ensured quality while maintaining my voice as an author was a great experience. I may be a non-native English speaker, but I still wanted the book to sound like me. I believe that everyone should do a PDP from time to time. If not, you run the risk of always going with the flow and being influenced or distracted by what is currently â€Å"cool.† Becoming the CEO of your own life requires you to invest time, and to engage in deep thinking and self-reflection. Try to enjoy the process, and remember that when it comes to your personal development, the results are in your hands! Becoming the CEO of your own life requires time,  deep thinking and self-reflection.