A statement that seems to contradict itself or common sense, but which, once thought through, reveals a truth.
In the Odyssey
and the two of us, in the hut, drinking and eating, let us delight in each other's sorrows, remembering; for the man who has suffered much and wandered much also takes delight in his sorrows.
To say that a man "takes delight in his sorrows" seems a contradiction, since pain and pleasure oppose each other. The paradox resolves itself on recollection: suffering again, only in speech, gives comfort, and this is what Eumaeus proposes to his guest.