Humour & Wit Quotes — page 12

Good nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit, and gives a certain air to the countenance which is more amiable than beauty.

We are tired who follow after Phantasy and truth that flies: You with only look and laughter Stain our hearts with richest dyes.

Yet malice never was his aim; He lashed the vice but spared the name. No individual could resent, Where thousands equally were meant. His satire points at no defect But what all mortals may correct;

Your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon—laughter. Power, Money, Persuasion, Supplication, Persecution—these can lift at a colossal humbug,—push it a little—crowd it a little—weaken it a little, century by …

Laugh at all you trembled at before.

Like some poor nigh-related guest, That may not rudely be dismist; Yet hath outstayed his welcome while, And tells the jest without the smile.

A sense of humour is a sense of proportion.

Stupid people, people who do not know how to laugh, are always pompous and self-conceited.

Ill may a sad mind forge a merry face, Nor hath constrainèd laughter any grace.

Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food.

Her wit was more than man, her innocence a child.

War is the statesman's game, the priest's delight, The lawyer's jest, the hired assassin's trade.

'Twas the saying of [Georgias Leontinus apud Arist. Rhetor. lib. 3. cap. 18… which the Translator renders, Seria Risu, Risum Seriis discutere] an ancient sage that humour was the only test of gravity, and gravity of humour. For a subject …

Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, There’s always laughter and good red wine. At least I’ve always found it so. Benedicamus Domino!

At twelve you may walk, for at this time o' the year, The sun like your wit, is as mild, as 'tis clear: But mark in the meadows the ruin of Time; Take the hint, and let life be improv'd in its prime.

Who will not commend the wit of astrology? Venus, born out of the sea, hath her exaltation in Pisces.

We grant, although he had much wit, He was very shy of using it.

Cynicism is humour in ill health.

The days and weeks of screwed-up smiles and laboured courtesy, the mock geniality, the hearty shake of the filthy hand, the chuckling reply that must be made to the coarse joke, the loathsome, choking compliment that must be paid to the …

I once played the chief part in a rather exciting business without ever once budging from London. And the joke of it was that the man who went out to look for adventure only saw a bit of the game, and I who sat in my chambers saw it all …

This paper will serve instead of a confidential friend into whose ear I might pour forth the overflowings of my heart. It will not sympathise with my distresses, but then it will not laugh at them, and, if I keep it close, it cannot tell …

The watchdog's voice that bayed the whispering wind, And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind.

Of all the Griefs that harrass the Distrest, Sure the most bitter is a scornful Jest

Churches are becoming political organizations...