Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index An adage is a pithy saying that sums up a particular subject or situation. The term "law" is sometimes used to describe ideas other than legal laws or physical laws, i.e., adages. These may be interesting observations or relationships, practical or ethical guidelines (also called rules of thumb), and even humorous parodies of physical law. Adages often originate in popular fiction, or in Internet forums such as Usenet. One literary personage renowned for his use of adages was Sancho Panza in Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote. Through overuse, an adage may become a cliché. Famous adages from popular fiction: Catch-22 Clarke's law TANSTAAFL Famous adages from Usenet: Ugol's law Godwin's law Other famous adages: Murphy's law Sturgeon's law Law of Infernal Dynamics Finagle's law Hanlon's razor Shaw's principle This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.