This paper situates monastic collections of sayings and sentences within a broader gnomic frame. It argues the particular merits of reading compilations of ancient/late-ancient monostichs as fundamentally linked to emergent collections of the Apophthegmata Patrum. In exploring these ideas, the technical parameters that govern the structure and content of gnomic elaboration will serve as tools for analysis. Likewise, literary models will be placed in conversation with extant material and manuscript evidence. Highlighting the integral role accorded gnomic content in broader school traditions, the networks of gnomic trajectories that link the collections of particular monastic teachers and their students will provide a preliminary locus for further inquiry.
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