“Brevity is the soul of wit.”

“Authors are partial to their wit, 'tis true,But are not critics to their judgment, too?”

“One science only will one genius fit/ So vast is art, so narrow human wit”

“True Wit is Nature to advantage dress'dWhat oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd;Something whose truth convinced at sight we find,That gives us back the image of our mind.As shades more sweetly recommend the light,So modest plainness sets off sprightly wit.”

“Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.”

“To wake the soul by tender strokes of art,To raise the genius, and to mend the heart”

“The Wit of Cheats, the Courage of a Whore,Are what ten thousand envy and adore:All, all look up, with reverential Awe,At crimes that 'scape, or triumph o'er the Law:While Truth, Worth, Wisdom, daily they decry-`'Nothing is sacred now but Villainy'- Epilogue to the Satires, Dialogue I”