Evan Esar Quotes

Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure.

Wit is an explosion of the compound spirit.

Wit, to be well defined, must be defined by wit itself; then it will be worth listening to.

Truth, when witty, is the wittiest of all things.

Next to being witty, the best thing is being able to quote another's wit.

Wit is educated insolence.

There's a hell of a distance between wisecracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words.

Smartness runs in my family. When I went to school I was so smart my teacher was in my class for five years.

I've never met a funny person who wasn't smart. I've met a lot of dramatic people who were stupid. But I've never met a funny person who wasn't smart.

I'm not too unintelligent.

The more wit the less courage.

You can pretend to be serious; but you can't pretend to be witty.

His foe was folly and his weapon wit.

Wit - the salt with which the American humorist spoils his intellectual cookery by leaving it out.

This has been a most wonderful evening. Gertrude has said things tonight it will take her 10 years to understand.

Humor is the affectionate communication of insight.

Irreverence is easy - what's hard is wit.

I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.

People of humor are always in some degree people of genius.

You can't deny the truth. And that's what makes smart comedy so good.

Many live by their wits but few by their wit.

Wit,--the pupil of the soul's clear eye.

Wit does not take the place of knowledge.

An epigram is the marriage of wit and wisdom; a wisecrack, their divorce.

Wit gives an edge to sense, and recommends it extremely.