Wit consists in knowing the resemblance of things that differ, and the difference of things that are alike. – Madame de Stael
Wit lies in recognizing the resemblance among things which differ and the difference between things which are alike. – Madame de Stael
Wit is a dangerous weapon, even to the possessor, if he knows not how to use it discreetly. – Michel de Montaigne
Wit is the sudden marriage of ideas which, before their union, were not perceived to have any relation. – Mark Twain
Wit is the appearance, the external flash of imagination. Thus its divinity, and the witty character of mysticism. – Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
Wit as an instrument of revenge is as infamous as art is as a means of sensual titillation. – Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
In the midst of the fountain of wit there arises something bitter, which stings in the very flowers. – Lucretius
Wit invents; inspiration reveals. The inventions of wit are conceits – metaphors and paradoxes – that discover the secret correspondences that unite beings and things among and with themselves; inspiration is condemned to dissipate its revelations – unless a form can be found to contain them. – Octavio Paz
The moving finger writes, and having written moves on. Nor all thy piety nor all thy wit, can cancel half a line of it. – Omar Khayyam
For those whose wit becomes the mother of villainy, those it educates to be evil in all things. – Sophocles