A man who could make so vile a pun would not scruple to pick a
pocket.

A man who could make so vile a pun would not scruple to pick a
pocket.

No time to break jests when the heartstrings are about to be
broken.

No time to break jests when the heartstrings are about to be
broken.

And however are Dennises take offence,
A double meaning shows double sense;
And if proverbs tell truth,
read more

And however are Dennises take offence,
A double meaning shows double sense;
And if proverbs tell truth,
A double tooth
Is wisdom's adopted dwelling.

Joking decides great things,
Stronger and better oft than earnest can.

Joking decides great things,
Stronger and better oft than earnest can.

Jesting, often, only proves a want of intellect.
[Fr., La moquerie est souvent une indigence d'esprit.]

Jesting, often, only proves a want of intellect.
[Fr., La moquerie est souvent une indigence d'esprit.]

That's a good joke but we do it much better in England.

That's a good joke but we do it much better in England.

A joke's a very serious thing.

A joke's a very serious thing.

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite
jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne read more

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite
jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a
thousand times. And now how abhorred in my imagination it is!

A bitter jest, when it comes too near the truth, leaves a sharp
sting behind it.
[Lat., Aspere read more

A bitter jest, when it comes too near the truth, leaves a sharp
sting behind it.
[Lat., Aspere facetiae, ubi nimis ex vero traxere,
Acram sui memoriam relinquunt.]