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.

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.

Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit.

Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit.

Wit is the epitaph of an emotion

Wit is the epitaph of an emotion

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.

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 a sword; it is meant to make people feel the point as well as see it.

Wit is a sword; it is meant to make people feel the point as well as see it.

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.]

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.