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A question may here be raised whether these humorous sayings, which are
similar in all ages, have been handed down or re-invented over and over
again. It must be admitted that the minds of men have a tendency to move
in the same direction, and may have struck upon the same points in ages
widely separated. In reading general literature, we constantly find the
same thought suggesting itself to different writers, and I have known
two people, who had no acquaintance with each other, make precisely the
same joke--original in both cases. On the other hand, the rarity of
genuine humour has given a permanent character to many clever sayings,
and there has always been a demand for them to enliven the convivial and
social intercourse of mankind. Their subtlety--the small points on which
they turn--makes it difficult to remember them, but there will be always
some men, who will treasure them for the delectation of their friends.
It is remarkable that people are never tired of repeating humorous
sayings, though they are soon wearied of hearing a repetition of them by
others. A man who cannot endure to hear a joke three times, will keep
telling the same one over and over all his life, and but for this, fewer
good stories would survive. The pleasure derived from humour, while it
lasts, is greater than that from sentiment or wisdom; hence we repeat it
more in daily converse than poetry or proverbs, and the constant
reproduction of it until it is reduced to a mere phantom, causes its
influence to appear more transient than it is.
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