Samuel Butler (poet) - Wit Quotes

4 Sourced Quotes

View all Samuel Butler Quotes

For he could coin, or counterfeit
New words, with little or no wit;
Words so debas'd and hard, no stone
Was hard enough to touch them on;
And when with hasty noise he spoke 'em;
The ignorant for current took 'em;

Samuel Butler

He knew what 's what, and that 's as high
As metaphysic wit can fly.

Samuel Butler

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

Samuel Butler

We idly sit, like stupid blockheads,
Our hands committed to our pockets,
And nothing but our tongues at large,
To get the wretches a discharge:
Like men condemn'd to thunder-bolts,
Who, ere the blow, become mere dolts;
Or fools besotted with their crimes,
That know not how to shift betimes,
And neither have the hearts to stay,
Nor wit enough to run away.

Samuel Butler