Aphorisms are literature's hand luggage. Light and compact, they fit easily into the overhead compartment of your brain.
Metaphors hide in plain sight, and their influence is largely unconscious. We should mind our metaphors, though, because metaphors make up our minds.
You only really discover the strength of your spine when your back is against the wall.
A simile is just a metaphor with the scaffolding still up.
Advice is given freely because so much of it is worthless.
In the margin for error lies all our room for maneuver.