We seldom
laugh when alone, although we often feel angry.
Dryden says "Wit is a propriety of words and thoughts adapted to the
subject," and Pope gives us a similar opinion in the following words--
"True wit is nature to advantage dressed,
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed,
Something whose truth convinced at sight we find.
That gives us back the image to our mind."
Taking this view of the subject, we should be inclined to think the
Psalms of David especially witty, and to agree with the pretentious
young lady who, being asked what she thought of Euclid, replied at a
hazard that "It was the wittiest book she had ever read." But it seems
probable from other passages in Pope's works that he did not here intend
to give a full definition, but only some characteristics. Moreover, in
former times, Wit was not properly distinguished from Wisdom, and the
above authors probably used the word in the old sense. Young says,
"Well-judging wit is a flower of wisdom," to which we may reply in the
words of an old proverb, "Wit and Wisdom, like the seven stars, are
seldom found together."
Brown, in his lectures on "The Human Understanding," observes that in
the ludicrous we do not condemn, but admire, and he cites as an
illustration the case of some friends dining at an hotel. Boniface
smilingly inquires what wine they would like to drink.
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