The Port Gibson reveille. (Port Gibson, Miss.) 185?-1857, 1854-07-19
Wrong Notions of Wit.

There are many men who arc laborinC
under n very erroneous impression, regarding
what it takes to make them smart--what viii
make them most agreeable TO those with
whom they associate, or to any kind Of com
pany that they may happen to fall into.
Losing sight Of the very things which
would render them agreeable. and cause them
to appear intelligent. they pick up the dan
gerOus habit Of using wit as kind Of resort
for something to say, which is always injuri-
Gus 70 any man who INDUCES too freely there.
in. There are two special dangers in the
indulgence of wit: the one is, that it is inn
possible to flourish a tool so sharp. without
wOunding others. Strive against it as much
as you please, your bess jokes and keeDest
arrows will be spent upon men, and upon
living characters. This will cause enmities
aud heart -burnings. Enemies. and bitter
enemies he must have. who attempts 10 be a
wit. And when you hear of man who had
rather lose a friend than joke, you may be
sure that lie will soon cease to be troubled
with the oiliciousness Of friendship. Every
man knows that he has peculiarities and
weaknesses of his own but they are part
Of his nature; and he cannot. and will not
love a man who wounds him through these.
The second danger Of trying to be a wit, is,
that you injurc your own mind. No one can
be wit without assiduously. cultiyating pc
culiar and odd associations Of ideas. The
thoughts must run in channels unusual to
common minds. A strange light must invest
everything at which you look and the mind
soon becomes habituated to eccentric associa-
tious. The result will be, that the mind
ceases TO be a well balanced instrument of
acquiring or communicating information
And while am reminding you Of one of the
most erroneous habits that could be INDUCED,
[ here suggest another error, which in my
humble opinion is nearly or quite commensu-
rate with wit, in point Of impropricty and
disagreeableness.
We should be careful also in conversation,
not to make any display Of knowledge or su-
perior learning. No company likes to con-
fess that they are ignorant; and when any
one makes parade of his learning, it is si-
lent invitation for them to acknowledge his
superiority, and to confess that all the rest
are ignorant. l read of a student who did
his utmost to be popular in the social circle,
but without success 1t was difficult to dis
cover the reason, but single evening ex-
planned the whole fact. lie quoted Latin
and talked in Greek, aud took great delight
in tracing things up to their sources thus,
for example. he took great pains to show the
company that the term comedy had some-
what lost its original meaning, for it was
composed Of k0me, street. and ole, song
meaning a street song, which they used 10
act in a cart, in the streets Of the city. This
is all true, but the pedantrY was insuferlble.
It is no evidence of learning, since single
hour spent over Webster's large Dictionary
would produce learning enough to torment a
circle the whole evening. lie who is really
scholar, will make but little noise about it.
The halfeducated physician, who is constant
~ afraid that you viii suspect him Of ignOr-
ance, is the man who uses the hard techni-
calitics of the profession. and turns ever the
precise terms into bombast. Among stu
dents it may be admissible, as they would be
more apt to be interested but in general. to
meet man who spouts Latin, bores you with
Greek, and belcbes forth his toploftical phra-
ses on every occasion, is very unpleasant and
unpopular. But in all your conversations,
be careful to maintain purity Of thought
Nashville Christian AdUOcate.