Wit Quotes - Page 3

• Many, affecting wit beyond their power, Have got to be a dear fool for an hour.

  George Herbert

  Fool, Hours, Dear

  George Herbert, Christopher Harvey, George Gilfillan (1857). “The poetical works of George Herbert”, p.11

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• The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.

  Oscar Wilde

  Inspirational, Dream, Future

  Oscar Wilde (2007). “The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde”, p.568, Wordsworth Editions

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• Less judgment than wit is more sail than ballast.

  William Penn

  Inspirational, Funny, Sailing

  Benjamin Franklin, William Penn (2012). “Franklin's Way to Wealth and Penn's Maxims”, p.38, Courier Corporation

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• Great men may jest with saints; 'tis wit in them; But, in the less foul profanation.

  William Shakespeare

  Men, Saint, May

  'Measure for Measure' (1604) act 2, sc. 2, l. 127

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• Wit will shine Through the harsh cadence of a rugged line.

  John Dryden

  Shining, Lines, Cadence

  "To the Memory of Mr. Oldham" l. 15 (1684)

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• 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.

  Florence King

  Love, Witty, Figures

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• If you don't know where you're going any road will do

  Lewis Carroll

  Baseball, Travel, Goals Dreams

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  It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.

  Oscar Wilde

  People, Luck, Enemy

  LadyWindermere's Fan act 1 (1892)

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• If you do not know where you are going, every road will get you nowhere

  Henry A. Kissinger

  Inspiring, Success, Baseball

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• A man must have a good share of wit himself to endure a great share in another.

  Lord Chesterfield

  Men, Share, Endure

  Lord Chesterfield (1998). “Lord Chesterfield's Letters”, p.345, Oxford Paperbacks

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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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• The next best thing to being witty one's self, is to be able to be able to quote another's wit.

  Christian Nestell Bovee

  Witty, Self, Able

  Christian Nestell Bovee (1862). “Intuitions and Summaries of Thought”, p.124

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• Humor is consistent with pathos, whilst wit is not.

  Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  Tongue, Pathos, Consistent

  Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1836). “Letters, Conversations and Recollections”, p.233

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• True wit is nature to advantage dressed;
  What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed.

  Alexander Pope

  Nature, Tongue, Advantage

  "A Selection from the Poetry of Alexander Pope".

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• Wit is the clash and reconcilement of incongruities; the meeting of extremes round a corner.

  Leigh Hunt

  Clash, Meetings, Incongruity

  Leigh Hunt (1856). “Leigh Hunt's Works”

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

  Lord Chesterfield

  Wise, Men, Advice

  Lord Chesterfield, David Roberts (2008). “Lord Chesterfield's Letters”, p.346, Oxford University Press

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• The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself.

  James Thurber

  Fun, World, Comedy

  Interview with Edward R. Murrow on "Small World", CBS-TV, March 25, 1959.

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• He hits from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious.

  Yogi Berra

  Funny, Baseball, Yankees

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• Wit - the salt with which the American humorist spoils his intellectual cookery by leaving it out.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Native American, Humor, Leaving

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.238, University of Georgia Press

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

  Madame de Stael

  Lying, Resemblance Is, Differences

  "Germany". Book by Madame de Stael, 1813.

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• Wit is the rarest quality to be met with among people of education, and the most common among the uneducated.

  William Hazlitt

  People, Quality, Common

  William Hazlitt (1837). “Characteristics: in the manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims [by W. Hazlitt].”, p.136

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• Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.

  Oscar Wilde

  Love, Inspirational, Funny

  Oscar Wilde (1947). “The Happy Prince”, p.16, New Line Publishing

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• Wit may do very well for a mistress, but [I] should prefer reason for a wife.

  Charles Caleb Colton

  Wife, Mistress, May

  Charles Caleb Colton (1824). “Lacon, Or, Many Things in a Few Words: Addressed to Those who Think”, p.47

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• The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

  Oscar Wilde

  Love, Inspirational, Positive

  The Importance of Being Earnest act 1 (1895)

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• Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel.

  Yogi Berra

  Funny, Baseball, Yankees

  Yogi Berra (1998). “The Yogi Book”, p.44, Workman Publishing

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