Two Kinds of Paradox

I think that there are two kinds of paradox in the proverb or aphorism. One seems to go against the doxa but really doesn't. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." It is paradoxical from a naive perspective, but it expresses the actual ideology of the community. Or LaRochefoucauld: "There are women who have never had a love affair, but very few who have had just one."

The other kind of paradox presents a belief that really is not socially acceptable. Here the aphorist is original and truly paradoxical. The aphorism does not command assent but puzzlement. To agree with the aphorism is to cross over to another kind of belief. (Oscar Wilde).