"The proverbialists occupy themselves with life in all its aspects.
Sometimes they simply catch the expression of men, good or bad, or
photograph their actions or thoughts; more generally they pass a
verdict upon them and exhort or instruct men in regard to them. * * *
Some of the proverbs have a certain flavor of humor."--_Davidson._
"The wise men of old," says Whipple, "have sent most of their morality
down the stream of time in the light skiff of apothegm or epigram: and the
proverbs of nations which embody the common sense of nations, have the
brisk concussion of the most sparkling wit. Almost every sensible remark
on folly is a witty remark. Wit is thus often but the natural language of
wisdom, viewing life with a piercing and passionless eye." The object of
the present study is to consider those proverbs and other epigrammatic
sayings which distinctly contain the element of wit in some form or other,
and which are so liberally scattered over the pages of the Bible.