Repartee Quotes

• Repartee is something we think of twenty-four hours too late.

  Mark Twain

  Inspiration, Thinking, Twenties

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• The impromptu reply is precisely the touchstone of the man of wit.

  Moliere

  Men, He Man, Wit

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• I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am.

  Ann Coulter

  People, Engagement, Literature

  Ann Coulter (2007). “If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans”, p.70, Crown Forum

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• Violence is the repartee of the illiterate.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Violence, Illiterate

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• Repartee is perfect when it effects its purpose with a double edge. It is the highest order of wit, as it indicates the coolest yet quickest exercise of genius, at a moment when the passions are roused.

  Charles Caleb Colton

  Passion, Exercise, Order

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• A majority is always better than the best repartee.

  Benjamin Disraeli

  Political, Majority, Politics

  Benjamin Disraeli (2016). “Delphi Complete Works of Benjamin Disraeli (Illustrated)”, p.5018, Delphi Classics

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• Beneath the surface of repartee and mock seriousness, [Plato's Phaedrus] is asking whether we ought to prefer a neuter form of speech to the kind which is ever getting us aroused over things and provoking an expense of spirit.

  Richard M. Weaver

  Plato, Asking, Speech

  Richard M. Weaver (1985). “The Ethics of Rhetoric”, p.5, Psychology Press

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• This is how we court girls in America. We grab them and kiss them. And if they don't like it, we do it again, harder and longer, until they surrender. It saves us hours of witty repartee.

  Lisa Kleypas

  Girl, Witty, Kissing

  Lisa Kleypas (2008). “A Wallflower Christmas: A Novel”, p.35, Macmillan

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• He has all of the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.

  Winston Churchill

  Life, Humorous, Vices

  Sir Winston Churchill (1965). “The Churchill Wit”

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• All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.

  Oscar Wilde

  Funny, Mothers Day, Mom

  The Importance of Being Earnest act 1 (1895). The same lines appear, as a dialogue between Lord Illingworth and Mrs. Allonby, in A Woman of No Importance, act 2 (1893).

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• A modest little person, with much to be modest about.

  Winston Churchill

  Life, Sarcastic, Humility

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• He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.

  William Faulkner

  Music, Sarcastic, Sarcasm

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• Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one.

  Winston Churchill

  Life, Night, Firsts

  "Sticks, stones and custard" by Ariane Sherine, www.theguardian.com. March 6, 2009.

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• I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend... if you have one.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Life, Night, Play

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• Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.

  Oscar Wilde

  Funny, Sarcastic, Breakfast Food

  Oscar Wilde (2016). “Aphorisms”, p.15, Oscar Wilde

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• I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial.

  Irvin S. Cobb

  Sarcastic, Witty, Powerful

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• I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.

  Mark Twain

  Funny, Life, Death

  Mark Twain (2014). “Mark Twain on Common Sense: Timeless Advice and Words of Wisdom from America's Most-Revered Humorist”, p.61, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

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• Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?

  Ernest Hemingway

  Music, Sarcastic, Clever

  Quoted in A. E. Hotchner, Papa Hemingway (1966)

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• A member of Parliament to Disraeli: 'Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.' That depends, Sir,' said Disraeli, 'whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.

  Benjamin Disraeli

  Mistress, Disease, Embrace

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• Repartee is altogether a natural endowment, and is the lightning of the mind.

  Alfred de Musset

  Mind, Lightning, Natural

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• REPARTEE, n. Prudent insult in retort. Practiced by gentlemen with a constitutional aversion to violence, but a strong disposition to offend. In a war of words, the tactics of the North American Indian.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Strong, War, Gentleman

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.197, University of Georgia Press

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• you may fume and fidget as you please: but this is the best plan to pursue with you, I am certain. I like you more than I can say; but I’ll not sink into a bathos of sentiment: and with this needle of repartee I’ll keep you from the edge of the gulf too; and, moreover, maintain by its pungent aid that distance between you and myself most conducive to our real mutual advantage.

  Charlotte Bronte

  I Like You, Real, Distance

  Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, Anne Bronte (2009). “The Bronte Sisters: Three Novels: Jane Eyre; Wuthering Heights; and Agnes Grey (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)”, p.224, Penguin

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• 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.

  William Cowper

  Healing, Men, Feelings

  William Cowper, James Thomson (1832). “The Works of Cowper and Thompson: Including Many Letters and Poems Never Before Published in this Country. With a New and Interesting Memoir of the Life of Thomson”, p.136

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• Silence is the unbearable repartee.

  Gilbert K. Chesterton

  Silence, Unbearable, Silence Is

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• Don't feel bad, Angela," Kami said. "You know guys, they only want one thing. Repartee. I can't count how many times men have admired my well-turned phrases.

  Sarah Rees Brennan

  Men, Guy, Phrases

  Sarah Rees Brennan (2012). “Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy Book 1)”, p.195, Random House Books for Young Readers

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