Quotes about Wit

“Wit is educated insolence.”

“Wit is the epitaph of an emotion.”

“Brevity is the body and soul of wit.”

“Avoid witicisms at the expense of others.”

“The banalities of a great man pass for wit.”

“Wit is the only wall between us and the dark.”

“Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food.”

“Melancholy men are of all others the most witty.”

“Humor is consistent with pathos, whilst wit is not.”

“He's winding up the watch of his wit. By and by it will strike.”

“A wise man will live as much within his wit as within his income.”

“Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words.”

“People who can't be witty exert themselves to be devout and affectionate.”

“He who has provoked the shaft of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it.”

“Wit ought to be a glorious treat like caviar; never spread it about like marmalade.”

“To be witty is not enough. One must possess sufficient wit to avoid having too much of it.”

“True wit is nature to advantage dressed, what oft was thought, but never so well expressed.”

“Wit. The salt with which the American humorist spoils his intellectual cookery by leaving it out.”

“In the midst of the fountain of wit there arises something bitter, which stings in the very flowers.”

“Witticisms please as long as we keep them within boundaries, but pushed to excess they cause offense.”

“Wit is the sudden marriage of ideas which, before their union, were not perceived to have any relation.”

“Wit lies in recognizing the resemblance among things which differ and the difference between things which are alike.”

“There's a helluva distance between wisecracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words.”

“Wit makes its own welcome, and levels all distinctions. No dignity, no learning, no force of character, can make any stand against good wit.”

“Sometimes we are inclined to class those who are once-and-a-half witted with the half-witted, because we appreciate only a third part of their wit.”

“Wit is brushwood; judgment timber; the one gives the greatest flame, and the other yields the most durable heat; and both meeting make the best fire.”

“The witty woman is a tragic figure in American life. Wit destroys eroticism and eroticism destroys wit, so women must choose between taking lovers and taking no prisoners.”

“You can make a sordid thing sound like a brilliant drawing-room comedy. Probably a fear we have of facing up to the real issues. Could you say we were guilty of Noel Cowardice?”

“A man renowned for repartee will seldom scruple to make free with friendship's finest feeling, will thrust a dagger at your breast, and say he wounded you in jest, by way of balm for healing.”

“Wit and Humor -- if any difference, it is in duration -- lightning and electric light. Same material, apparently; but one is vivid, and can do damage -- the other fools along and enjoys elaboration.”