Wit - Quotes

As it is the characteristic of great wits to convey a great deal in a few words, so, on the contrary, small wits have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing. - Duc de La Rochefoucauld

Brevity is the soul of wit. - Shakespeare

Deprived of the company of fools, a great wit does not seem half so clever. - Duc de La Rochefoucauld

His fine wit makes such a wound, the knife is lost in it. - Percy Shelly

I am not only witty in myself, but the cause that wit is in other men. - William Shakespeare

Next to being witty yourself, the best thing is being able to quote another’s wit. - Christian Nestell Bovee

The distrust of wit is the beginning of tyranny. - Edward Abbey

Wit beyond measure is a man’s greatest treasure. - Rowena Ravenclaw

Wit is educated insolence. - Aristotle

Wit is so shining a quality that everybody admires it; most people aim at it, all people fear it, and few love it unless in themselves. A man must have a good share of wit himself to endure a great share of it in another. - Lord Chesterfield

Wit is the epitaph of an emotion. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Wit is the only wall between us and the dark. - Mark van Doren

Wit makes its own welcome, and levels all distinctions. No dignity, no learning, no force of character, can make any stand against good wit. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wit sometimes enables us to act rudely with impunity. - Duc de La Rochefoucauld

You can pretend to be serious; you can’t pretend to be witty. - Sacha Guitr