Wit is cultured insolence.

[ἡ γὰρ εὐτραπελία πεπαιδευμένη ὕβρις ἐστίν.]

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher

Rhetoric [Ῥητορική; Ars Rhetorica], Book 2, ch. 12, sec. 16 (2.12.16) / 1389b.11 (350 BC) [tr. Freese (1926)]
    (Source)

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

• "Wit is a refined petulance." [Source (1847)]


• "Facetiousness is chastened forwardness of manner." [tr. Buckley (1850)]


• "Wit is educated insolence." [tr. Jebb (1873)]


• "Wit being well-bred insolence." [tr. Roberts (1924)]


• "Wittiness is educated insolence." [tr. Bartlett (2019)]