James Geary celebrates The World in a Phrase on November 21st

Schedule

Fri Nov 21 2025 at 06:00 pm to 07:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Barnes & Noble - Philadelphia | Philadelphia, PA

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Barnes & Noble Philly welcomes James Geary to discuss The World in a Phrase on Friday, November 21st!
About this Event

Join and Barnes & Noble Philadelphia on Friday, November 21st at 6pm at Barnes & Noble Philadelphia (1708 Chestnut Street) for a discussion of . Celebrating the short, witty, philosophical phrases known as aphorisms, this delightful history is an entertaining tour through the wisest and wittiest sayings in the world.

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To make this event safe and enjoyable for all attendees, please read the guidelines below before registering for a ticket so that you know what to expect on the day of the event.

General Admission Ticket ***LIMITED QUANTITY AVAILABLE:

  • Registering for a General Admission Ticket guarantees entrance to the event for the discussion and signing.
  • Seating: Limited quantity is available and will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Standing Room-Only: Limited quantity is available and will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. In the event all seating is filled, ticket holders will be granted a standing view from behind the seated audience -- some views may be more limited/obstructed than others.

ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES:

--Please note that Eventbrite is the only authorized dealer for this event. Each person must have a ticket to enter.

--Due to health and safety and space limitations, those without a ticket will not be permitted into the event space.

--The exact time at which the event ends will be determined on the night of the event. To avoid disappointment, we strongly advise you to arrive on time for the event.

--All event guidelines are subject to change.

--If you have any additional questions, please can call the store directly at: (267) 234-9790.

--Barnes & Noble may cancel this event at any time with or without notice to the ticket holders.

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ABOUT

James Geary, an adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, is the author of Wit’s End: What Wit Is, How It Works, and Why We Need It, I Is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How It Shapes the Way We See the World, and Geary's Guide to the World’s Great Aphorists, among other books. He likes to juggle.


ABOUT

Aphorisms are literature’s hand luggage. Light and compact, they contain everything you need to get through a rough day at the office or a dark night of the soul. Aphorisms, the oldest written art form on the planet, have been going viral for thousands of years, delivering the short, sharp shock of old forgotten truths. Today, visual artists are mixing pithy language with compelling imagery and using social media to take the form into the future. In a world of disinformation and deepfakes, aphorisms point to the power of fresh debate over tired dogma and inconvenient truths over comfortable lies.Starting in ancient China and ending with contemporary meme-makers and street artists, The World in A Phrase tells the story of the aphorism through brief biographies of some of its greatest practitioners: sages like Lao-tzu and the Buddha, philosophers like Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, writers like George Eliot and Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, humorists like Mark Twain and Dorothy Parker, activists like James Baldwin and Audre Lorde, poets like Langston Hughes and Kay Ryan, and artists like Jenny Holzer and David Byrne.The World in A Phrase is for lovers of words and seekers of wisdom. This new edition of The New York Times bestseller features 26 additional aphorists and explores the aphorism in the age of social media, showing why these short sentences are the ultimate deep dives in an era when TL;DR has become a cultural catchphrase.

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Where is it happening?

Barnes & Noble - Philadelphia, 1708 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Tickets

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Barnes & Noble - Philadelphia

Host or Publisher Barnes & Noble - Philadelphia

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