From the Introduction to the Oxford Book of Aphorisms: "Yet in practice many aphorisms are retorts and ripostes, shafts aimed at the champions of an established viewpoint or a shallower morality. They tease and prod the lazy assumptions lodged in the reader's mind; they warn us how insidiously our vices can pass themselves off as virtues..." -John Gross

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Among some of the better aphorisms I have read of late:

"If man had created man he would be ashamed of his performance,"- Mark Twain, Notebooks, later 19th century

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Twain's commentary about the limits of human beings is true. Given what we could produce today, we would never produce anything as miraculous as what God has already conceived of. For we would not bother to produce humans as deeply feeling, highly intelligent, or magnificently compassionate. We would instead focus on producing a creature efficient to its core, creative to a limit, and ultimately, directed at fulfilling our own personal desires. We would produce this kind of creature regardless of what mass destruction it might cause in the wake of doing so. Shelley's Frankenstein still offers a fine warning to humankind about the dangers of seeking unmerited glory. Some powers belong exclusively to God and for good reason.