Hi, could you please tell me whether or not the following sentence is a paradox

[numberss]

. “When the body's intelligence declines,*cleverness and knowledge step forth.” Lao-Tzu


is that sentence an example of paradox or aphorism ?

Thank you.

[aeroport]

Hello, numberss.
The sentence definitely sounds contradictory, but I don't know. Traditionally, paradoxes sound wrong but actually work (can't think of any examples), but in this case it just sounds sort of wrong altogether. It was probably intended to be paradoxical, though, so you could probably say that. I don't know that I'd call it an aphorism, but my experience with those is limited.
This is kind of a lame answer, I know; hopefully someone else around here will come along with a better one.

[Charles Darnay]

I would definatly call this an aphorism, I don't consider it to be paradoxiacal at all. The way I interpret it (and I may be wrong) is that its a statment reflecting that wisdom comes from the abandonment of bodily or material things - kind of a buddhist philosophy.

[bazarov]

It's definitely aphorism.

[Niamh]

Hello, numberss.
The sentence definitely sounds contradictory, but I don't know. Traditionally, paradoxes sound wrong but actually work (can't think of any examples), but in this case it just sounds sort of wrong altogether. It was probably intended to be paradoxical, though, so you could probably say that. I don't know that I'd call it an aphorism, but my experience with those is limited.
This is kind of a lame answer, I know; hopefully someone else around here will come along with a better one.

"At the round earths imagined corners" from the poem by John Donne is an example of a paradox. I think what numberss has is an aphorism.

[AuntShecky]

You can argue that the sentence is both an aphorism and
a paradox. The two terms aren't necessarily mutually
exclusive.
An aphorism is a short, pithy statement; a paradox yokes
two seemingly disparate objects together. The latter is a
device prevalent in metaphysical poetry, so Niamh, the poster who cited "at the round's earth imagined corners," the line from Donne was spot-on.

I can see how it could be a paradox; it can be argued, however, that intelligence doesn't necessarily include knowledge and cleverness.
To quote Alexander Pope: A little learning (i.e. "knowledge") is a dangerous thing.
And as your old Auntie always says: "God help the
merely clever."

[numberss]

Thank you so much for the help- Jemesian, Charles Darnay, bazarov, Niamh and Auntshecky, if I understood you well that sentence is more an aphorism than a paradox, right?

Just one last favor,

I have to Identify the type of rhetorical device used in the following sentence.




“Charles Lyell for example, in the first edition of his epochal Principles of Geology (1830-1833), decided that caterpillars posed such a threat to vegetation that any natural checks upon them could only reflect well upon a creating deity, for [if] caterpillars would destroy human agriculture[,] ‘did not Providence put causes in operation to keep them in due bounds.’” Gould

and these are the optinions
testimony, paradox , aphorism, metonymy ,induction, metaphor, definition,

I think it is a testimony, but I also think it could be a metaphor.

Could you please help me with that one.
thanks!

[aeroport]

Pretty sure that's an induction.

[earthboar]

Aphorism. A paradox would be something like, "Only in darkness is it light," or, "A man is happiest when he is sad," or, "We are most alone in a crowd."

Though the Tao Te Ching contains paradoxical aphorisms, the one you have quoted isn't really one of those.