Repartee Quotes

A talent for repartee is one that increases with practice.

Repartee is the soul of conversation.

Silence is the unbearable repartee.

The impromptu reply is precisely the touchstone of the man of wit.

A majority is always better than the best repartee.

A modest little person, with much to be modest about.

Violence is the repartee of the illiterate.

I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial.

This is how we court girls in America. We grab them and kiss them. And if they don't like it, we do it again, harder and longer, until they surrender. It saves us hours of witty repartee.

Violins are the lively, forward, importunate wits, that distinguish themselves by the flourishes of imagination, sharpness of repartee, glances of satire, and bear away the upper part in every consort.

Repartee is something we think of twenty-four hours too late.

I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am.

Repartee is altogether a natural endowment, and is the lightning of the mind.

Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?

He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.

Repartee is perfect when it effects its purpose with a double edge. It is the highest order of wit, as it indicates the coolest yet quickest exercise of genius, at a moment when the passions are roused.

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: 'Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.' That depends, Sir,' said Disraeli, 'whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.

I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend... if you have one.

Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one.

A man renowned for repartee will seldom scruple to make free with friendship's finest feeling, will thrust a dagger at your breast, and say he wounded you in jest, by way of balm for healing.

Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.

there is not the least wit in my nature. I am a very matter of fact, plain spoken being, and may blunder on the borders of a repartee for half an hour together without striking it out.

All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.

Beneath the surface of repartee and mock seriousness, [Plato's Phaedrus] is asking whether we ought to prefer a neuter form of speech to the kind which is ever getting us aroused over things and provoking an expense of spirit.

I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.

Don't feel bad, Angela," Kami said. "You know guys, they only want one thing. Repartee. I can't count how many times men have admired my well-turned phrases.

REPARTEE, n. Prudent insult in retort. Practiced by gentlemen with a constitutional aversion to violence, but a strong disposition to offend. In a war of words, the tactics of the North American Indian.

you may fume and fidget as you please: but this is the best plan to pursue with you, I am certain. I like you more than I can say; but I’ll not sink into a bathos of sentiment: and with this needle of repartee I’ll keep you from the edge of the gulf too; and, moreover, maintain by its pungent aid that distance between you and myself most conducive to our real mutual advantage.

He has all of the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.

One of the great things about the 'Iron Man' franchise is that they employ fascinating actors who don't necessarily do action movies. Before 'Iron Man' you didn't associate Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow with those kinds of films. There's an emphasis on repartee and wit.