Question: I was wondering what the correct word would be for a sentence that is tightly packed with meaning. For example, a good aphorism. An aphorism is short, but has a lot of meaning behind it and requires considerable thought in order to understand it.

I thought of the word *dense* (as in "this is a very dense passage that takes some time to understand"). But in my mind, *dense* implies that its more technical and difficult to read. I'm trying to describe a simple passage that has a lot of meaning behind it. For example, a passage like this:

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> We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely. (The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde)
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Edit: Just for more context. I sent the preface of *The Picture of Dorian Grey* to a friend, he quickly read it and said that he didn't understand it, and I said "you have to think about it, that page is really dense." I need a word to replace dense in that context.

Answer: 
***Deep*** — [ODO](https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/deep)

"you have to think about it, that page is really deep (or thought-provoking)."

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> 2.2 **Profound** or penetrating in awareness or understanding  
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>  2.3 Difficult to understand: *"this is all getting too deep for me"*
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***Thought-provoking*** — [Cambridge](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/thought-provoking)

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> making you think a lot about a subject: *"a thought-provoking book/film"*
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I think I found an answer to my own question:

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> **Pithy** adjective
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> brief, forceful, and meaningful in expression; full of vigor,
>  substance, or meaning
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