Great wits and valours, like great states,
Do sometimes sink with their own weights.

Great wits and valours, like great states,
Do sometimes sink with their own weights.

You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty.

You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty.

He who has provoked the shaft of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it.

He who has provoked the shaft of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it.

Less judgment than wit, is more sail than ballast.

Less judgment than wit, is more sail than ballast.

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

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

We grant, although he had much wit,
H' was very shy of using it,
As being loth read more

We grant, although he had much wit,
H' was very shy of using it,
As being loth to wear it out,
And therefore bore it not about;
Unless on holy days or so,
As men their best apparel do.

Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food.

Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food.

People who can't be witty exert themselves to be devout and affectionate.

People who can't be witty exert themselves to be devout and affectionate.

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.]