Wit and Wisdom Quotes

This fellow is wise enough to play the fool; And to do that well craves a kind of wit: He must observe their mood on whom he jests, The quality of persons, and the time, And, like the haggard, check at every feather That comes before his eye. This is a practise As full of labour as a wise man's art For folly that he wisely shows is fit; But wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit.

When I get into an argument I generally could get something out of Shakespeare which I could put on an opponent to his disadvantage. He has helped me out of many a tight place.

I don't talk, I quote. I can't help it. It's better to be quotable than honest.

It is with epigrams as with other inventions; the best ones annoy us because we didn't think of them ourselves.

I'd rather do comedies that strike at some bigger ideas.

Humor is just truth, only faster!

Wit is absolutely sociable spirit or aphoristic genius.

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

Who can prove Wit to be witty when with deeper ground Dulness intuitive declares wit dull?

Laugh not too much; the witty man laughs least: For wit is news only to ignorance. Lesse at thine own things laugh; lest in the jest Thy person share, and the conceit advance.

It is inconceivable how much wit it requires to avoid being ridiculous.

Wit saves us from being swallowed whole by life.

A sense of humour is common sense dancing.

Bob Hope, like Mark Twain, had a sense of humor that was uniquely American, and like Twain, we'll likely not see another like him.

One should have wit, but not wish to have it; otherwise there will be witticism, the Alexandrian style of wit.

After wisdom comes wit.

Most of you probably didn't know that I have a new book out. Some guy put together a collection of my wit and wisdom - or, as he calls it, my accidental wit and wisdom. But I'm kind of proud that my words are already in book form.

Through humour, we see in what seems rational, the irrational; in what seems important, the unimportant

Humor is one of the elements of genius--admirable as an adjunct; but as soon as it becomes dominant, only a surrogate for genius.

I don't have to be bam, bam, bam, funny when I'm working. I can tell stories, and there's some funny in them.

Comedy keeps the heart sweet; but we all know that there is wholesome refreshment for both mind and heart in an occasional climb among the pomps of the intellectual snow-summits built by Shakespeare and those others.

Humor is the affectionate communication of insight.

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

I'm very confident that Nick Hornby always gets it right as a writer. He has the vernacular and passion. He is adroit and dry, and balances humor with the humanity of life.

A man of knowing attains to a sense of humour. Let this always be remembered. If you see someone who has no sense of humour, know well that that man has not known at all. If you come across a serious man, then you can be certain that he is a pretender. Knowing brings sincerity but all seriousness disappears. Knowing brings a playfulness; knowing brings a sense of humour. The sense of humour is a must.