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.

As a wit, if not first, in the very first line.

As a wit, if not first, in the very first line.

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 is far more often a shield than a lance

Wit is far more often a shield than a lance

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.

Competition is what keeps me playing the psychological warfare of matching skill against skill and wit against wit.

Competition is what keeps me playing the psychological warfare of matching skill against skill and wit against 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 educated insolence.

Wit is educated insolence.

Brevity is the body and soul of wit.

Brevity is the body and soul of wit.