The Present State of Wit (1711) - In a Letter to a Friend in the Country by John Gay
page 51 of 54 (94%)
page 51 of 54 (94%)
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Many People are acquainted with their own _Wit_, that are not acquainted
with their own _Heart_. It is not in the power of _Wit_, to act a long while the _Part_ of the _Heart_. A Man of _Wit_ would be sometimes miserably at a loss, but for the Company of _Fools_. A Man of _Wit_ may sometimes be a _Coxcomb_; but a Man of _Judgment_ never can. The different Ways or Methods for compassing a Design, come not so much from the Quickness and Fertility of an industrious _Wit_, as a dim-sighted _Understanding_, which makes us pitch upon every fresh Matter that presents itself to our groping _Fancy_, and does not furnish us with Judgment sufficient to discern at first sight, which or them is best for our Purpose. The _Twang_ of a Man's _Native Country_, sticks by him as much in his _Mind_ and _Disposition_, as it does in his _Tone_ of _Speaking_. _Wit_ serves sometimes to make us play the _Fool_ with greater Confidence. Shallow _Wits_ are apt to censure everything above their own _Capacity_. 'Tis past the Power of _Imagination_ it self, to invent so many distant _Contrarieties_, as there are naturally in the _Heart_ of every Man. |
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