Jest Quotes

Woman: the peg on which the wit hangs his jest, the preacher his text, the cynic his grouch and the sinner his justification. (Helen Rowland)
War is the statesman's game, the priest's delight, the lawyer's jest, the hired assassin's trade. View quote
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Of all the griefs that harass the distrest, Sure the most bitter is a scornful jest. View quote
Samuel Johnson
Life is a jest; and all things show it. I thought so once; and now I know it. View quote
John Gay
If all else fails, the character of a man can be recognized by nothing so surely as by a jest which he takes badly. View quote
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
The squirrel that you kill in jest, dies in earnest. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
Never injure a friend, even in jest. View quote
Cicero
Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit. View quote
Aristotle
Sweetest love, I do not go, For weariness of thee, Nor in hope the world can show A fitter love for me; But since that I Must die at last, 'tis best, To use my self in jest Thus by feigned deaths to die. View quote
John Donne
If you must mount the gallows, give a jest to the crowd, a coin to the hangman, and make the drop with a smile on your lips. View quote
Robert Jordan
Merriment is always the effect of a sudden impression. The jest which is expected is already destroyed. (Samuel Johnson)
As my mother once said: The boys throw stones at the frogs in jest. But the frogs die in earnest. View quote
Joanna Russ
Some had rather lose their friend then their Jest. View quote
George Herbert
The one from among the Muslims who recites the Qur'an but in the end finds his way to hell, is considerd to be among those that have taken the word of Allah in jest. View quote
Ali
Those that will combat use and custom by the strict rules of grammar do but jest. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
It is depressing to hear the unfortunate or dying man jest. View quote
Anton Chekhov
It has been said, and only half in jest, that a tough, professionally led union is a great force for improving management performance. It forces the manager to think about what he is doing and to be able to explain his actions and behavior. View quote
Peter Drucker
Many wise words are spoken in jest, but they don't compare with the number of stupid words spoken in earnest. View quote
Sam Levenson
Listen closely as those around you speak; great truths are revealed in jest. View quote
Javan
Judge of a jest when you have done laughing. View quote
Robert Lloyd
"Were I to cast aside respect before the Creator and seek to make a jest in criticism of creation, then I should demand, ‘Less content and more form!' Oh, how that loss of content would unburden the world! More modesty in purposes, more restraint in claims, gentlemen demiurges, and the world would be more exquisite!” cried my father as his hands were laying bare Paulina's white calf from the fetters of her stocking. (Bruno Schulz)
We may, indeed, indulge in sport and jest, but in the same way as we enjoy sleep or other relaxations, and only when we have satisfied the claims of our earnest, serious task. View quote
Cicero
As for myself, I am simply Hop-Frog, the jester - and this is my last jest. View quote
Edgar Allan Poe
Even If they (children) fall during their play, the nature, having come under the spell of their creative sports, doesn't know when they again start to play so full of jest. Believing that they fall unknowingly the ground, mostly, does not even hurt them. View quote
Suman Pokhrel
I'm from New York, I make kind of somewhat maybe lewd, at times - maybe some would say dirty - jokes. But in jest. View quote
Sarah Michelle Gellar