Maximes

Maximes, or maxims in English, are brief statements that express general truths or rules of conduct. They function as concise guides to behavior, often in a prescriptive or normative tone and designed to be memorable. The term comes from the French maxime, which itself derives from Latin maxima, meaning greatest or the highest. Maxims may be attributed to a particular author or be anonymous, and they appear across cultures and historical periods.

Key characteristics include brevity, universality, and a compact argumentative structure: a claim about how people should act, or about how the world tends to behave. Because of their aphoristic form, maxims are common in moral philosophy, religious instruction, political discourse, legal tradition, and everyday speech. They often operate as distilled wisdom, not exhaustive arguments, and can function as tools for persuasion or ethical education. In law, for example, there are maxims of law such as “Ignorance of the law is no excuse,” which express general principles shaping legal reasoning.

Examples of well-known maximes include “Honesty is the best policy,” “Where there's a will, there's a way,” and culturally specific dicta. While similar to proverbs and aphorisms, maxims typically aim to present a universal rule or normative guideline, rather than a description of common experience alone.