To be witty is not enough. One must possess sufficient wit to avoid having too much of it.

To be witty is not enough. One must possess sufficient wit to avoid having too much of it.

Wit's an unruly engine, wildly striking
Sometimes a friend, sometimes the engineer:
Hast thou the knack? pamper read more

Wit's an unruly engine, wildly striking
Sometimes a friend, sometimes the engineer:
Hast thou the knack? pamper it not with liking;
But if thou want it, buy it not too deare
Many affecting wit beyond their power,
Have got to be a deare fool for an houre.

Brevity is the body and soul of wit.

Brevity is the body and soul of wit.

It is by such encounters that wits come to know each other.
[Ger., Les beaux esprits lernen einander durch read more

It is by such encounters that wits come to know each other.
[Ger., Les beaux esprits lernen einander durch dergleichen
recontre erkennen.]

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

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

I am a fool, I know it; and yet, Heaven help me, I'm poor enough
to be a wit.

I am a fool, I know it; and yet, Heaven help me, I'm poor enough
to be a wit.

Don't put too fine a point to your wit for fear it should get
blunted.

Don't put too fine a point to your wit for fear it should get
blunted.

Wit, now and then, struck smartly, shows a spark.

Wit, now and then, struck smartly, shows a spark.

Aristotle said , , , melancholy men of all others are most witty.

Aristotle said , , , melancholy men of all others are most witty.