Literary notes about wit (AI summary)
Throughout literature, "wit" carries a rich, layered meaning. It often denotes a keen intellectual capacity—the ability to grasp and deploy subtle humor or insight—as seen when characters are celebrated for their brisk mental acuity and clever judgment [1], [2], [3]. At times, it functions as a descriptor for sparkling repartee or sharp wordplay that enlivens dialogue, exemplified by playful jibes and clever exchanges [4], [5]. In other contexts, the term appears in a more technical or enumerative sense, as in the phrase "to wit," which introduces further clarification or detail [6], [7]. Whether highlighting a character’s advantageous mental quickness or critiquing a lack thereof, wit remains a versatile and enduring element in literary expression [8], [9].
- H2 anchor Good Wit, Or Fancy; Good Judgement; Discretion
— from Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes - You were so full of life when you were a child; I thought you would be a brilliant woman,–all wit and bright imagination.
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot - You have a good deal of wit, a great deal of penetration, much beyond your years, and, as I thought, your opportunities.
— from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson - O' my troth, most sweet jests, most incony vulgar wit!
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - I append the comeback: I mean come at once, you maddening half-wit.
— from Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse - Then Sir Kay said all open in the hall, I will ride after my boy in the kitchen, to wit whether he will know me for his better.
— from Le Morte d'Arthur: Volume 1 by Sir Thomas Malory - Their children, that were left in the land; to wit, such as the children of Israel had not been able to destroy, Solomon made tributary unto this day.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - So Shakspere has taught us, "Brevity is the soul of wit."— Hamlet , Act ii Sc.
— from Plutarch's Morals by Plutarch - And we mean well in going to this mask; But ’tis no wit to go.
— from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
