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| A common jester may have wit but not wisdom. Young. | 1 |
| A jest driven too far brings home hate. | 2 |
| A joke never gains an enemy but often loses a friend. | 3 |
| A joke should not be carried too far. Latin. | 4 |
| All in the way of a joke the wolf goes to the ass. Spanish. | 5 |
An ill-timed jest hath ruined many,
And gentle dulness ever loves a joke. Pope. | 6 |
| Away with such jests, there is no good in being malignant. | 7 |
| Better lose a jest than a friend. | 8 |
| Drop the jest when it is most amusing. Italian. | 9 |
| Good jests bite like lambs, not like dogs. | 10 |
| He that jokes confesses. Italian. | 11 |
He that would jest must take a jest,
Else to let it alone were best. Dutch. | 12 |
| His back is broad enough to bear jests. | 13 |
| If you be a jester keep your wit until you have use for it. | 14 |
| It is not good jesting with God, death or the devil. Arabian. | 15 |
| It is past joking when the head’s off. | 16 |
| It requires a surgical operation to get a joke well into a Scotch understanding. Sidney Smith. | 17 |
| Jesters do oft prove prophets. | 18 |
| Jesting lies bring serious sorrows. | 19 |
| Jest not in earnest. Motto of the Margrave of Brandenburg. | 20 |
| Jest not with a rude man lest thy ancestors be disgraced. Bible. | 21 |
| Jest not with the eye nor religion. | 22 |
| Jest so it may not turn in earnest. Spanish. | 23 |
| Jest with an ass and he will flap you in the face with his tail. | 24 |
| Jests are seldom good the first time, but the second distasteful. | 25 |
| Jests, like sweetmeats, have often sour sauce. | 26 |
| Jest with your equals. Danish. | 27 |
| Jesting costs money. Spanish. | 28 |
| Leave off the jest when it is merriest. Spanish. | 29 |
| Manual jokes are clowns’ jokes. French, Spanish. | 30 |
| Many a true word spoken in jest. Italian. | 31 |
| Much better lose a jest than a friend. | 32 |
| Never joke with stupid people. | 33 |
| No jesting with edge tools or with bell ropes. | 34 |
Of all the griefs that harass the distressed,
Sure the most bitter is a scornful jest. Johnson. | 35 |
| Rather spoil your joke than lose your friend. Scotch. | 36 |
| Some who jest tell tales of themselves. French. | 37 |
| That’s the cream of the joke. | 38 |
| The jest’s propriety lies in the ear of him who hears it, never in the tongue of him who makes it. | 39 |
| The truest jests sound worst in guilty ears. | 40 |
| The wise make jests and fools repeat them. | 41 |
| The worst jests are those that are true. French. | 42 |
| There are jokes like diamonds that take infinitely less time to find than to polish. Punch. | 43 |
| There is no worse joke than a true one. Italian, Spanish. | 44 |
| To jest is tolerable, but to do harm by jest is insufferable. | 45 |
| True jests breed bad blood. | 46 |
| True jokes never please. French. | 47 |
| We knock in jest and it is opened in earnest. German. | 48 |
| When the demand is a jest the fittest answer is a scoff. Archimedes. | 49 |
| When the jest is at its best, ’twill be well to let it rest. German. | 50 |
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