Alexander PopeTrue wit is nature to advantage dressed; What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed.
About This Quote
True wit is nature to advantage dressed. When that which has been thought is well put into words, it then becomes witty. This quote is often attributed to William Shakespeare, but it never appears in any of his plays. It’s easy to prove that Shakespeare didn’t say this line because he used the word “wit” in many other ways. The phrase is part of a poem by John Lyly called “The Meane while Pleasure,” which also contains the lines “It’s good to be alone, and wise to be so.”
Some Similar Quotes
- The sunlight claps the earth, and the moonbeams kiss the sea: what are all these kissings worth, if thou kiss not me?
- In youth, it was a way I had, To do my best to please. And change, with every passing lad To suit his theories. But now I know the things I know And do the things I do, And if you do not like me...
- If I were a tree, I would have no reason to love a human.
- A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.
- This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of...
More Quotes By Alexander Pope
- If I am right, Thy grace impart Still in the right to stay; If I am wrong, O, teach my heart To find that better way!
- Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night: God said, Let Newton be! and all was light.
- A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying in other words that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.
- Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.
- Hope springs eternal in the human breast; Man never Is, but always To be blest. The soul, uneasy, and confin'd from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come.