Explain aphorisms?

Question

illustrate a poster for the aphorism by Henry David Thoreau--"I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born."

Answer 1

Aphorism is a brief saying containing a moral, a concise statement of a principle or rule of personal conduct given in pointed words.

The point Thoreau was making is that he has been becoming less wise as his life has gone, presumably because he has spent time with other people, allowing them to influence him poorly.

Here are some ideas:
1. A progression (think the famous Darwin "progression of man") of HDT from babe to child to teen to adult with a "wise meter" above him getting lower and lower.
2. Show a man who looks like HDT (google images) holding a baby. Have him thinking something like "don't let society change you - be the person you are now always."
** Favorite** 3. Henry is standing on the border of some woods (Transcendentalism!) walking along a path that has two old wooden signs - one points to a city in the background saying "society" the other points to a path into the woods saying "wisdom." You could even print out a face shot of HDT and paste it onto your own drawing just be sure people know it's him.