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

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

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.

An ounce of wit is worth a pound of sorrow.

An ounce of wit is worth a pound of sorrow.

Wit, now and then, struck smartly, shows a spark.

Wit, now and then, struck smartly, shows a spark.

Wit is the clash and reconcilement of incongruities; the meeting
of extremes round a corner.

Wit is the clash and reconcilement of incongruities; the meeting
of extremes round a corner.

Wit will shine
Through the harsh cadence of a rugged line.

Wit will shine
Through the harsh cadence of a rugged line.

Wit is educated insolence.

Wit is educated insolence.

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 are sure to madness near allied,
And thin partitions do their bounds divide.

Great wits are sure to madness near allied,
And thin partitions do their bounds divide.