To the many, witticisms not only require to be explained, like riddles — Wit

"This man [Chesterfield] I thought had been a lord among wits; but I find he is only a wit among lords."

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

"For wit and judgment often are at strife, Though meant each others aid, like man and wife."

"Some mens wit is like a dark lantern, which serves their own turn and guides them their own way, but is never known (according to the Scripture phrase) either to shine forth before men, or to glorify their Father in heaven."

"Wit involves describing the world as it actually is. You experience a release of tension when you notice a glitch. Something was off-kilter, and now you see what it was. The elephant in the room has been named. The evil spirit has been incanted. Perceiving an incongruity in our supposedly smooth-running society provokes a shock of recognition and a concomitant burst of laughter. Wit is a critical-satirical process that can be more serious than the “humorous” label suggests."

"Make the doors upon a womans wit and it will out at the casement; shut that and twill out at the key-hole; stop that, twill fly with the smoke out at the chimney."