Wit Quotes - Page 8

• A fool who has a flash of wit creates astonishment and scandal, like hack-horses setting out to gallop.

  Nicolas Chamfort

  Horse, Scandal, Fool

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• Wit and humor belong to genius alone.

  Miguel de Cervantes

  Genius, Wit And Humor

  Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1867). “Don Quixote”, p.316

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• It is often a sign of wit not to show it, and not to see that others want it.

  Suzanne Curchod

  Want, Shows

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• Economists and technologists bring the "bits", but it requires the social scientists and humanists to bring the "wits.

  Kenneth E. Boulding

  Scientist, Social, Economist

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• A man must keep his earnestness nimble, to escape ridicule.

  D. H. Lawrence

  Men, Nimble, Ridicule

  D.H. Lawrence (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of D.H. Lawrence (Illustrated)”, p.8848, Delphi Classics

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• There are as many and innumerable degrees of wit, as there are cubits between this and heaven.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Heaven, Degrees

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• Oh! a private buffoon is a light-hearted loon,
  If you listen to popular rumour;
  From morning to night he's so joyous and bright,
  And he bubbles with wit and good humour!

  W. S. Gilbert

  Funny, Morning, Night

  William Schwenck Gilbert, “The Family Fool”

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• Too much wit makes the world rotten.

  Alfred Lord Tennyson

  Rotten, World, Too Much

  Alfred, Lord Tennyson (2012). “Idylls of the King”, p.217, Courier Corporation

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• I grow in worth, and wit, and sense, Unboding critic-pen, Or that eternal want of pence, Which vexes public men.

  Alfred Lord Tennyson

  Men, Vex, Want

  'Will Waterproof's Lyrical Monologue' (1842) st. 6

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• It is of no use to possess a lively wit if it is not of the right proportion: the perfection of a clock is not to go fast, but to be accurate.

  Luc de Clapiers

  Perfection, Use, Clock

  Jean de La Bruyère, Luc de Clapiers marquis de Vauvenargues (1903). “La Bruyère and Vauvenargues: Selections from the Characters, Reflexions and Maxims”

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• The character of false wit is that of appearing to depend only upon reason.

  Luc de Clapiers

  Character, Reason, Appearing

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• Wit does not take the place of knowledge.

  Luc de Clapiers

  Doe

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• Laugh as loud as you please at your companion's wit; do not even smile at his folly.

  Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann

  Laughing, Advice, Loud

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• We find ourselves less witty in remembering what we have said than in dreaming of what we would have said.

  Jean Antoine Petit-Senn

  Dream, Witty, Remember

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• As the fertilest ground, must be manured, so must the highest flying wit have a Daedalus to guide him.

  Philip Sidney

  Education, Flying, Daedalus

  Sir Philip Sidney, William Gray (1860). “The miscellaneous works of Sir Philip Sidney, knt: with a life of the author and illustrative notes”, p.111

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• Courage ought to be guided by skill, and skill armed by courage. Neither should hardiness darken wit, nor wit cool hardiness. Be valiant as men despising death, but confident as unwonted to be overcome.

  Philip Sidney

  Courage, Men, Skills

  Sir Philip Sidney, Jane Porter (1807). “Aphorisms of Sir Philip Sidney: With Remarks”, p.68

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• There must be more malice than love in the hearts of all wits.

  Benjamin Haydon

  Heart, Malice

  Benjamin Robert Haydon (1859). “Life of Benjamin Robert Haydon, Historical Painter: From His Autobiography and Jounals”, p.469

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• Wit is the flower of the imagination.

  Livy

  Flower, Imagination

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• Let each man have the wit to go his own way.

  Propertius

  Men, Way

  Sextus Propertius (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of Propertius (Illustrated)”, p.76, Delphi Classics

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• The history of imitation of the older literature, particularly abroad, has among other advantages this one, that the important concepts of unintentional parody and passive wit can be deduced from it most easily and comprehensively.

  Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel

  Important, Literature, Imitation

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• One should have wit, but not wish to have it; otherwise there will be witticism, the Alexandrian style of wit.

  Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel

  Should Have, Style, Wish

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• In England, wit is at least a profession, if not an art. everything becomes professional there, and even the rogues of that islandare pedants. So are the "wits" there too. They introduce into reality absolute freedom whose reflection lends a romantic and piquant air to wit, and thus they live wittily; hence their talent for madness. They die for their principles.

  Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel

  Art, Reflection, Reality

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• Wit is absolutely sociable spirit or aphoristic genius.

  Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel

  Genius, Spirit, Sociable

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• It is not wit merely, but temper, which must form the well-bred man. In the same manner it is not a head merely, but a heart and resolution, which must complete the real philosopher.

  Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury

  Real, Heart, Men

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• Wit is its own remedy. Liberty and commerce bring it to its true standard. The only danger is the laying an embargo. The same thing happens here as in the case of trade: impositions and restrictions reduce it to a low ebb; nothing is so advantageous to it as a free port.

  Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury

  Liberty, Danger, Restriction

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