Horace - Walter Ralegh - Proverbs - William Shakespeare - Samuel Johnson - Henry David Thoreau - Dorothy Parker -
96,060. Jesting decides great things
Stronglier, and better oft than earnest can. Horace, Satires
780. Why should truth not be impress’d
Beneath the cover of a jest. (Truth & Jest) ibid.
9,129. Only we die in earnest, that’s no jest. (Death & Jest) Walter Ralegh c.1552-1618, On the Life of Man
56,811. Many a true word is spoken in jest. (Proverb & Jest) Late 14th century
57,369. A jest’s prosperity lies in the ear
Of him that hears it, never in the tongue
Of him that makes it. William Shakespeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost V ii869
58,586. Jesters do oft prove prophets. (Prophet & Jest) William Shakespeare, The History of King Lear V iii 69, Regan
57,370. Of all the griefs that harass the distressed,
Sure the most bitter is a scornful jest;
Fate never wounds more deep the gen’rous heart,
Than when a blockhead’s insult points the dart. (Insult & Jest) Samuel Johnson, London 1738
77,845. I lose my respect for the man who can make the mystery of sex the subject of a coarse jest, yet when you speak earnestly and seriously on the subject, is silent. (Jest & Sex) Henry David Thoreau
93,450. There’s a hell of a distance between wise-cracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wise-cracking is simply calisthenics with words. (Wit & Joke & Jest) Dorothy Parker