:a well-known phrase that expresses a general truth about life or a rule about behavior箴言；格言；座右铭
My mother's favorite maxim [=saying] was “Don't count your chickens before they hatch.” [=don't assume that things will happen the way you expect them to happen]我母亲最喜欢的格言是“鸡蛋未孵出，先别数小鸡”。