quotations about wit
Wit is usually thought rude by its victims.
GARY TAYLOR
Moment by Moment by Shakespeare
A man of remarkable genius may afford to pass by a piece of wit, if it happen to border on abuse. A little genius is obliged to catch at every witticism indiscriminately.
WILLIAM SHENSTONE
Essays on Men and Manners
True Wit is Nature to advantage dress'd
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd.
ALEXANDER POPE
An Essay on Criticism
Brevity is the soul of wit.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Hamlet
I am not only witty in myself, but the cause that wit is in other men.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Henry IV, Part II
She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit.
W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
"The Creative Impulse", Collected Short Stories
My wit is sharper then the finest mustache, and when I walk among men I make truths ring like spurs.
EDMOND ROSTAND
Cyrano de Bergerac
Every witticism is an inexact thought; that which is perfectly true is imperfectly witty.
WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR
Imaginary Conversations of Greeks and Romans
He depended on his mother wit to get him out of any scrape his father ignorance got him into.
STRICKLAND GILLILAN
attributed, 20,000 Quips & Quotes
The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power.
FRANCIS BACON
Essex's Device
Those who object to wit are envious of it.
WILLIAM HAZLITT
Characteristics: in the manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims
Wit is an unruly engine, wildly striking sometimes a friend, sometimes the engineer.
GEORGE HERBERT
The Temple: The Poetry of George Herbert
The effect of wit is sometimes so sudden that it almost amounts to a concussion, and most generally excites a disposition to laughter.
HORACE PETERS BIDDLE
A Few Poems
Wit is the clash and reconcilement of incongruities, the meeting of extremes round a corner.
LEIGH HUNT
Wit and Humour, Selected from the English Poets
The wittiest man is one who says a good thing, and appears not to know it.
JOHN VAN BUREN
attributed, Day's Collacon
We find ourselves less witty in remembering what we have said than in dreaming of what we would have said.
JEAN PETIT
attributed, Day's Collacon
Wit gives an edge to sense, and recommends it extremely.
WILLIAM PENN
Some Fruits of Solitude
Wit resembles a coquette; those who the most eagerly run after it are the least favored.
JOSEPH CHENIER
attributed, Day's Collacon
Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.
J. K. ROWLING
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The well of true wit is truth itself.
GEORGE MEREDITH
Diana of the Crossways