saying

saying, saw, adage, proverb, maxim, motto, epigram, aphorism, apothegm can all denote a sententious expression of a general truth.

A saying is a brief current or habitual expression that may be anonymous, traditional, or attributable to a specific source

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the saying is true, "The empty vessel makes the greatest sound"— Shak.

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A saw is an oft-repeated and usually traditional or old saying

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full of wise saws and modern instances— Shak.

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the old saw that ignorance is bliss— M. W. Childs

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An adage is a saying given credit by long use and general acceptance

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if there is verity in wine, according to the old adage— Thackeray

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there's an adage to the effect that a good horse eventually comes back to his best form— Audax Minor

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A proverb is an adage couched, usually, in homely and vividly concrete or figurative phrase

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accused (in the phrase of a homely proverb) of being "penny-wise and pound-foolish"— Spectator

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we hear, that we may speak. The Arabian proverb says, "A fig tree, looking on a fig tree, becometh fruitful"— Emerson

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A maxim offers a general truth, fundamental principle, or rule of conduct often in the form of a proverb

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the difference between principles as universal laws, and maxims of conduct as prudential rules— Robinson

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we have reversed the wise maxim of Theodore Roosevelt: "Speak softly and carry a big stick"— Warburg

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A motto is usually a maxim or moral aphorism adopted by a person, a society, or an institution as a guiding principle or as a statement of an aim or ideal

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William of Wykeham's old motto that "Manners makyth Man"— Quiller-Couch

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he adopted the maxim, "Napoleon is always right," in addition to his private motto of "I will work harder"— George Orwell

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The last three terms, epigram, aphorism, and apothegm, commonly imply known authorship and a conscious literary quality.

An epigram gets its effectiveness from its terseness and a witty turn of phrase; it characteristically presents a paradox or a cleverly pointed antithesis

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what is an epigram? A dwarfish whole, its body brevity, and wit its soul— Coleridge

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An aphorism is a pithy epigram that requires some thought

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when Mark Twain utters such characteristic aphorisms as "Heaven for climate, hell for society"— Brooks

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An apothegm is a sharply pointed and often startling aphorism such as Johnson's remark, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."