Wit is far more often a shield than a lance

Wit is far more often a shield than a lance

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.

Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit.

Quotation is a serviceable substitute for 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.

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.]

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.

This man [Chesterfield] I thought had been a lord among wits; but
I find he is only a wit read more

This man [Chesterfield] I thought had been a lord among wits; but
I find he is only a wit among lords.

Wit consists in seeing the resemblance between things which differ, and the difference between things which are alike

Wit consists in seeing the resemblance between things which differ, and the difference between things which are alike

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

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