Wit Quotes - Page 20

• For my own part I think no innocent species of wit or pleasantry should be suppressed: and that a good pun may be admitted among the smaller excellencies of lively conversation.

  James Boswell

  Thinking, May, Innocence

  James Boswell (1807). “The life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: comprehending an account of his studies and numerous works, in chronological order; a series of his epistolatory correspondence and conversations with many eminent persons; and various original pieces of his composition, never before published: the whole exhibiting a view of literature and literary men in Great-Britain, for near half a century during which he flourished”, p.403

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• And here, I believe, the wit is generally misunderstood. In reality, it lies in desiring another to kiss your a-- for having just before threatened to kick his; for I have observed very accurately, that no one ever desires you to kick that which belongs to himself, nor offers to kiss this part in another.

  Henry Fielding

  Lying, Believe, Kissing

  Henry Fielding (1992). “Tom Jones”, p.204, Wordsworth Editions

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• Lord, enlighten thou our enemies. Sharpen their wits, give acuteness to their perceptions, and consecutiveness and clearness to their reasoning powers: we are in danger from their folly, not from their wisdom; their weakness is what fills us with apprehension, not their strength.

  John Stuart Mill

  Giving, Perception, Enemy

  John Stuart Mill (1864). “Dissertations and Discussions: Political, Philosophical, and Historical”, p.77

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• You can always debate about what you should have done. The question is what are you going to do?

  Hubert H. Humphrey

  Wisdom, Should Have, Done

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• It is all too easy for a society to measure itself against some abstract philosophical principle or political slogan. But in the end, there must remain the question: What kind of life is one society providing to the people that live in it?

  Hubert H. Humphrey

  Wisdom, Philosophical, People

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• If I believe in something, I will fight for it, with all I have. But I do not demand all or nothing. I would rather get something than nothing.

  Hubert H. Humphrey

  Wisdom, Believe, Fighting

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• I probably have a 20,000-word vocabulary. I'll match my wits with anyone on literature, science and the arts.

  Mike Tyson

  Art, Vocabulary, Literature

  "Tyson: 'My whole life has been a waste'". Interview with Jon Saraceno, usatoday30.usatoday.com. June 2, 2005.

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• I'm filled with admiration, delight, and gratitude at discovering James Lasdun's poems in A Jump Start. He has wit, speed, intelligence, a keen eye, precision, and imagination of a high order.

  Anthony Hecht

  Gratitude, Eye, Order

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• Puns are the droppings of soaring wits.

  Victor Hugo

  Dropping, Pun, Soar

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• I have wit in my work and a sense of humor, but I do not use irony in any way

  John Zorn

  Humor, Way, Use

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• If we were left solely to the wordy wit of legislators in Congress for our guidance, uncorrected by the seasonal experience and the effectual complaints of the people, America would not long retain her rank among the nations.

  Henry David Thoreau

  America, Long, People

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• To be in love- where scorn is bought with groans,
  Coy looks with heart-sore sighs, one fading moment's mirth
  With twenty watchful, weary, tedious nights;
  If haply won, perhaps a hapless gain;
  If lost, why then a grievous labour won;
  However, but a folly bought with wit,
  Or else a wit by folly vanquished.

  William Shakespeare

  Heart, Night, Stupidity

  William Shakespeare (1867). “The Pictorial edition of the works of Shakspere, ed. by C. Knight. [8 vols., including a vol. entitled William Shakspere, by C. Knight]. [8 vols. The vol. containing the biogr. is of the 3rd ed.].”, p.19

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• And writers say, as the most forward bud
  Is eaten by the canker ere it blow,
  Even so by love the young and tender wit
  Is turn'd to folly, blasting in the bud,
  Losing his verdure even in the prime,
  And all the fair effects of future hopes.

  William Shakespeare

  Blow, Stupidity, Bud

  William Shakespeare (1858). “The Plays of Shakespeare”, p.4

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• He uses his folly like a stalking-horse, and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit.

  William Shakespeare

  Horse, Use, Fool

  'As You Like It' (1599) act 5, sc. 4, l. [112]

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• No evil is without its compensation. The less money, the less trouble; the less favor, the less envy. Even in those cases which put us out of wits, it is not the loss itself, but the estimate of the loss that troubles us.

  Seneca the Younger

  Money, Loss, Evil

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• Whose wit in the combat, as gentle as bright, Ne'er carried a heart-stain away on its blade.

  Charles Lamb

  Heart, Blades, Stains

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• When you are dealing with a child, keep all your wits about you, and sit on the floor.

  Austin O'Malley

  Inspirational, Children, Humorous

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• Behind every footballing tough guy there lurks a mincing aesthete with a love of art for art's sake, football for football's sake. A win without art is somehow less than a victory; less, almost, than a beautiful defeat. In football, the romantic and the pragmatist are ever at war in the same breast. Beauty, it must be understood here, is not Barcelona's aim but their method. And last night they were ready to use this method at every opportunity - quick-fire passing of wit and purpose in the danger areas, seeking always to produce an unlooked-for player in a position of threat.

  Simon Barnes

  Beautiful, Soccer, Football

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• Genius is, to be sure, not a matter of arbitrariness, but rather of freedom, just as wit, love, and faith, which once shall become arts and disciplines. We should demand genius from everybody, without, however, expecting it.

  Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel

  Love, Art, Discipline

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• Kyria Abrahams, former teen bride of a doomsday cult and seeker of salvation in slam poetry, tells the terribly funny story of her improbable life with candor, wit, and an unsparing eye for the perfect detail. Brilliant.

  Janice Erlbaum

  Eye, Perfect, Details

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• For as the body grows old, so the wits grow old and become blind towards all things alike.

  Herodotus

  Body, Blind, Grows

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• I mean everything's a lot more smoother. It's just calm. IN the beginning, I had the typical attitude of a young rapper makin money... ya know I was the partyin guy... I was the guy wit the girls... all the extra that came wit the game...it's up to the artist to know when to say when. You can't live that kind of lifestyle forever. ...I learn from the other people's mistake. I know when to say no. You learn to make the right decisions and pick the right choices. That's all that's really changed.

  The Notorious B.I.G.

  Girl, Attitude, Mistake

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• I seen her in the subway, on my way to Brooklyn.
  "Hello, good lookin, is this seat tooken?"
  
  On the A Train, pickin at her brain,
  I couldn't get her number, I couldn't get her name.
  
  I said, "I still like your style and fashion,
  But I hate your hot sadiddy attitude wit a passion.
  Is it because brothers like to hawk a lot?
  Is it because your sign don't talk a lot?"
  
  She turned away, no play, I said, "OK,
  You don't really look good, I hope you have a bad day."

  Rakim

  Fashion, Brother, Attitude

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• It doesn't phaze, I amaze wit my phrases
  Play this in your Jeep, so your neighbors lose some sleep
  (I wanna thank you)

  Del tha Funkee Homosapien

  Rap, Sleep, Play

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• Politics make me sick

  William Howard Taft

  Wisdom, Witty, Sick

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