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Jest Quotes

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Jest Quotes

“Nor, if the succession of events exercises a charm, is unpredictability by any means the least part of it. When a forecast is made, no matter what it may be, it is always tempting to prove it wrong. Events themselves often help us out in this regard. There are overpredicted events, for instance, that obligingly decline to occur; and then there are the exactly opposite kind - those which occur without forewarning. It behoves us to bank on such conjunctural surprises - such 'backdraughts'. We must bet on the Witz of events themselves. If we lose, at least we shall have had the satisfaction of defying the objective idiocy of the probabilities. This obligation is a vital function - part of our collective genetic heritage. Indeed, this is the only genuine function of the intellect: to embrace contradictions, to exercise irony, to take the opposite tack, to exploit rifts and reversibility - even to fly in the face of the lawful and the factual. If the intellectuals of today seem to have run out of things to say, this is because they have failed to assume this ironic function, confining themselves within the limits of their moral, political or philosophical consciousness despite the fact that the rules have changed, that all irony, all radical criticism now belongs exclusively to the haphazard, the viral, the catastrophic - to accidental or system-led reversals. Such are the new rules of the game - such is the new principle of uncertainty that now holds sway over all. [...]”

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Book:The Transparency of Evil: Essays in Extreme Phenomena
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“Of all the griefs that harass the distress'd, Sure the most bitter is a scornful jest; Fate never wounds more deep the generous heart, Than when a blockhead's insult points the dart.”

HeartGriefFateWoundsBitterGenerousInsultDistressJestBlockheadsGenerous Heart
Book:The Poetical Works of Johnson: Parnell, Gray, and Smollett, with Memoirs, Critical Dissertations, and Explanatory Notes
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“It is surprising to see what superficial, inconsequential reasonings satisfy the most part of mankind. A piece of wit, a jest, a simile, or a quotation of an Author, passes for a mighty argument.... This weakness and effeminacy of mankind in being persuaded where they are delighted, have made them the sport of orators, poets, and men of wit.”

MenMadeSportsPiecesMankindPoetWeaknessArgumentWitReasoningSurprisingQuotationsSuperficialSimileDelightedJestOratorsInconsequential
Book:The Life and Works of John Arbuthnot, M.D.: Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
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“Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee Jest, and youthful Jollity, Quips, and Cranks, and wanton Wiles, Nods, and Becks, and wreathed Smiles, Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, And love to live in dimple sleek; Sport that wrinkled Care derides, And Laughter holding both his sides.”

CareSportsSidesLaughterAnd LoveTheeCheeksHasteJestWantonCrankQuipNymphsDimples
Book:Milton's Comus, L'allegro, and Il Penseroso: With Numerous Illustrative Notes &c
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“It is a melancholy consideration that there should be several among us so hardened and deluded as to think an oath a proper subject for a jest; and to make this, which is one of the most solemn acts of religion, an occasion of mirth. Yet such is the depravation of our manners at present, that nothing is more frequent than to hear profligate men ridiculing, to the best of their abilities, these sacred pledges of their duty and allegiance; and endeavouring to be witty upon themselves, for daring to prevaricate with God and man.”

ThinkingMenShouldAbilitySubjectsDutySacredWittyOccasionsMannersConsiderationMelancholyDaringSolemnPledgeAllegianceOathMirthJestHardenedDeluded
Book:The Tatler. The Guardian. The Freeholder. The Whig-examiner. The lover. Dialogues upon the usefulness of ancient medals. Remarks on several parts of Italy, etc. The present state of the war. The late trial and conviction of Count Tariff. The evidences of the Christian religion. Essay on Virgil's Georgics. Poems on several occasions. Translations from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Notes on some of the foregoing stories in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Poemata. Rosamond. Cato. The drummer
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“Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it, so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the jest is over, and the tale hath had its effect.”

MenEffectsLateTalesToo LateFalsehoodJestLimping
Book:The Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin: Including the Whole of His Posthumous Pieces, Letters, &c
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“Blest be that spot, where cheerful guests retire To pause from toil, and trim their evening fire; Blest that abode, where want and pain repair, And every stranger finds a ready chair Blest be those feasts with simple plenty crown'd, Where all the ruddy family around Laugh at the jest or pranks, that never fail, Or sigh with pity at some mournful tale, Or press the bashful stranger to his food, And learn the luxury of doing good.”

WantPainSimpleLaughingFireFailingReadyPressesStrangerTalesPitySpotsLuxuryEveningPlentyChairsRetiringGuestsCrownsPausesToilSighCheerfulHospitalityDoing GoodJestAbodePranksBashful
Book:Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith: With a New Life of the Author
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“Certain streets have an atmosphere of their own, a sort of universal fame and the particular affection of their citizens. One of such streets is the Cannebiere, and the jest: "If Paris had a Cannebiere, it would be a little Marseilles" is the jocular expression of municipal pride. I, too, I have been under the spell. For me it has been a street leading into the unknown.”

IfsLittlesHas BeensBookWould BeCertainStreetsParticularExpressionPrideCitizensFameUniversalAffectionAtmosphereParisSpellsJestMarseille
Book:The Arrow of Gold
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“you can't fit the same religion to every man any mo' than you can the same pair of breeches. The big man takes the big breeches an' the little man takes the small ones, an' it's jest the same with religion. It may be cut after one pattern, but it's might apt to get its shape from the wearer inside. Why, thar ain't any text so peaceable that it ain't drawn blood from somebody.”

MenMayLittlesBigsMightCuttingBloodFitShapesPatternsEvery ManPairsJestLittle Man
Author:Ellen Glasgow
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