Telling maxim (6)
I believe the answer is:
saying
I believe this clue is a double definition.
'telling' is the first definition.
('say' can be a synonym of 'tell')
'maxim' is the second definition.
(thesaurus)
(Other definitions for saying that I've seen before include "Speaking; twenty-two Ac" , "talking!" , "Well-known phrase or proverb - just speaking" , "Epigram" , "Apophthegm" .)