Of all the griefs that harass the distress'd,
Sure the most bitter is a scornful jest;
Fate read more

Of all the griefs that harass the distress'd,
Sure the most bitter is a scornful jest;
Fate never wounds more deep the generous heart,
Than when a blockhead's insult points the dart.

Jesting, often, only proves a want of intellect.
[Fr., La moquerie est souvent une indigence d'esprit.]

Jesting, often, only proves a want of intellect.
[Fr., La moquerie est souvent une indigence d'esprit.]

A jest's prosperity lies in the ear
Of him that hears it, never in the tongue
Of read more

A jest's prosperity lies in the ear
Of him that hears it, never in the tongue
Of him that makes it.

A joke's a very serious thing.

A joke's a very serious thing.

A man who could make so vile a pun would not scruple to pick a
pocket.

A man who could make so vile a pun would not scruple to pick a
pocket.

A college joke to cure the dumps.

A college joke to cure the dumps.

Joking decides great things,
Stronger and better oft than earnest can.

Joking decides great things,
Stronger and better oft than earnest can.

He that will lose his friend for a jest, deserves to die a beggar
by the bargain.

He that will lose his friend for a jest, deserves to die a beggar
by the bargain.

Less at thine own things laugh; lest in the jest
Thy person share, and the conceit advance,
read more

Less at thine own things laugh; lest in the jest
Thy person share, and the conceit advance,
Make not thy sport abuses: for the fly
That feeds on dung is colored thereby.