Wit is the epitaph of an emotion

Wit is the epitaph of an emotion

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.

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.

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.

With little wit and ease to suit them,
They whirl in narrow circling trails,
Like kittens playing read more

With little wit and ease to suit them,
They whirl in narrow circling trails,
Like kittens playing with their tails.
[Ger., Mit wenig Witz und viel Behagen
Dreht jeder sich im engen Zirkeltanz
Wie junge Katzen mit dem Schwanz.]

Wit is cultured insolence.

Wit is cultured insolence.

Great wits are sure to madness near allied,
And thin partitions do their bounds divide.

Great wits are sure to madness near allied,
And thin partitions do their bounds divide.

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.

At our wittes end.

At our wittes end.