Rediscovering Austin O'Malley: One of 20th Century's Best Aphorists

Introduction. An eye surgeon and university professor who was infamously poisoned with arsenic by his own wife, Austin O'Malley(1858-1932) today is best known for his timeless book of aphorisms. In this Memo, discover his insights on romance, how to measure our life, and more👇

We are creatures of habit: “Man and the earth move in orbits : what they did before, they will do again.” Habits sink their roots inside us like trees inside the ground - after a while, only violent force can jerk them out.

The romantic aspects of life don’t scale: “Mysticism and emotion may be graces in an individual, but they are diseases in a government.” Perhaps the government should be closer to the limited and mechanical nature of a machine than to the poetry of the human mind.

Using a beautiful metaphor, O’Malley describes the effect of a story that touches upon a universal truth: “Universality in literature signifies a truth common to mankind expressed with subtle restraint of style—the whole countryside coming to our vision through an opened door.”

Balancing dreams with details, and romance with reality, is the highest human achievement: “The best man is he that can simultaneously see the Rose of the Blessed with one eye and the grocery-bill with the other.”

Strong men create good times, good times create…sleepy men. Austin O’Malley: “Civilization is the world with its leg asleep.” Civilization makes people sit still for too long - a lethargy slips through into their muscles and very spirit.

How to measure a life? Not by how much it stretches on, but by how deep, or high, it goes: “A man's life is like a well, not like a snake— it should be measured by its depth, not by its length. ”

Is civilization, by definition, anti-romantic? Austin O’Malley writes: “Romance and the wild deer withdraw as civilization advances, and we find the tame substitute.” Think of what we value in “civilization”: utility, safety, efficiency. Not the most romantic of end-goals.

Just like cheap diamonds are fixed against dark backgrounds, writers with dull ideas create a pervasively sad vibe in their work. O’Malley wrote: “Poets set their verses against a melancholy background, as goldsmiths set cheap jewels against black velvet.”

Be wary of stuffing your mind with too many borrowed ideas. Leave ample space for original ideas to move around. Austin O’Malley warns: “Some men's brains are so badly crowded with books that nothing can move therein.”