bible and theology on Wittiness

Fred Allen (1984-1956) was a famous American comedian, writer, and radio star. When fellow comic Jack Parr first met Allen, he burst out, “You are my God!” Allen replied with the characteristic wit of...

The story is told of a (true) encounter that took place between the Chief Rabbi of London, a Mr. Hermann Adler, and the Catholic Cardinal Herbert Vaughan at some formal luncheon. According to accounts...

There is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious. It is too good to waste on jokes.

Nothing is more like a wise man than a fool who holds his tongue.

Words can sometimes, in moments of grace, attain the quality of deeds.

We must speak honestly—but also wisely.

Blessed are the liars, / For the truth can be awkward.

A good laugh is a mighty good thing, a rather too scarce a good thing.

Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how t...

He is wise who knows the sources of knowledge - who knows who has written and where it is to be found.

Wisdom is the power to see and the inclination to choose the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it.

The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are.

There is nothing more foolish than an act of wickedness; there is no wisdom equal to that of obeying God.

It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.

Being omniscient, God knew Murphy’s Law. On the Eighth day of creation, God said, “Okay Murphy, take over." (for humor)

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.

Never miss a chance to keep your mouth shut.

Wisdom is the daughter of experience.

O, make your Word a swift Word, passing from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip and conversation; that, as the rain returns not empty, so neither may your Word, but accomplish that for wh...

Goodness is beauty in the best estate.

True wisdom consists in two things: Knowledge of God and Knowledge of Self.

The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month.

Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

Any mind that is capable of real sorrow is capable of good.

I often think of the set pieces of liturgy as certain words which people have successfully addressed to God without their getting killed.

Sometimes the curses of the godless sound better than the hallelujahs of the pious.

We humans may say, “Let there be light in this room,” but then we have to flick a switch or light a candle. Our words need deeds to back them up and can fail to achieve their purposes. God’s words, ho...

Tell all the truth, but tell it slant. . . . The truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind.

Prudence is a form of wisdom. The ancients distinguished between two kinds of wisdom: speculative wisdom (sophia), related to the world of abstract ideas, and practical wisdom (prudentia), related to ...