Entering and leaving a conversation with a witty one-liner is the clever conversationalist's goal. The Duc de La Rochefoucauld accomplished a lifetime of clever commentary with his collection of 504 philosophical aphorisms, The Maxims. An introductory video demonstrates the ways that a short sentence can be a more effective philosophical statement than a book full of long, meandering passages.

Concepts

philosophers, enlightenment philosophers, voltaire

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• See if class members can come up with their own aphorisms about life and love; vote on the most creative and clever sayings as a class
• Fold The Maxims into a literature class or lesson on concise writing and word choice

Classroom Considerations

• Aphorisms appear on the screen quickly; consider providing a reference page with various sayings for learners to compare to the video, or pausing at opportune moments
• Comment section is open to the public
• Some aphorisms may be over the heads of members of the class

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Compares the aphorisms of La Rochefoucauld to modern day Twitter
• Entertaining for learners of all reading levels

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2 SL.11-12.2 L.9-10.2.a L.11-12.3.a RH.9-10.2 RH.11-12.2