Wit is the lightning of the mind.
Meaning: Sudden brilliance illuminates truth instantly, but like lightning, its flash vanishes quickly unless captured.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- You may truss up all his wit in an egg-shell. — Wit confined to theoretical cleverness without practical application remains insignifican…
- Wit may be bought too dear. — Cleverness obtained through deception, betrayal, or moral compromise exacts a hidden cost…
- He that lives upon his wits, breaks for want of stock. — A person relying solely on cleverness without resources or preparation will eventually fa…
- Wolves lose their teeth, but not their memory. — Even when weakened by age, enemies retain grudges and cunning, remaining dangerous throug…
- A wonder lasts but nine days. — Public fascination with novelty inevitably fades as the extraordinary becomes familiar an…
- To woo is a pleasure in young men, a fault in old. — Courtship befits youth's exuberance but reveals desperation or impropriety in the aged.
From our tongue twisters
- El cielo está enladrillado, ¿quién lo desenladrillará? — A brutal test of the rolled 'r' and 'l'.
- Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid. — A 'bl' / 'br' brain-twister.
- Trentatré trentini entrarono a Trento tutti e trentatré trotterellando. — An unbroken stampede of 'tr' and 't'.