Accents Quote by Dorothy L. Sayers
“If we did not know all His retorts by heart, if we had not taken the sting out of them by incessant repetition in the accents of the pulpit, and if we had not somehow got it into our heads that brains were rather reprehnsible, we should reckon Him among the greatest wits of all time. Nobody else, in three brief years, has achieved such an output of epigram.”
About This Quote
Source Play: The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1923
The quote humorously suggests that memorizing and repeatedly preaching religious arguments makes the speaker appear clever, but the true wit belongs to the divine.
In simple terms: Repeating arguments makes us sound smart, but real wit is higher.
Key Takeaway
Recognize humility in intellectual pride.
Themes
humor
religion
pride
Mood
playful
reflective
Type
satirical
observational
When to use this quote
- preaching
- public speaking
- debate
- personal study
Key Concepts
theology
epigram
self‑deprecation
Questions to Reflect On
- Do you value memorization over insight?
- How does humor reveal deeper truths?
A Different Perspective
May over‑reliance on repetition limit original thought.
![“See that the mind is honest, first; the rest may follow or not as God wills. [That] the fundamental treason to the mind ... is the one fundamental treason which the scholar's mind must not allow is the bond uniting all the Oxford people in the last resort.” quote by Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c74/dorothy-l-sayers-738_academia_see-that-the-mind-is-honest-first-the-re_16293.jpg)
![“Perhaps [the critics are right and] the drama is played out now and Jesus is safely dead and buried. Perhaps. It is ironical and entertaining to consider that at least once in the world's history those words might have been said with complete conviction, and that was on the eve of the Resurrection.” quote by Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/467/dorothy-l-sayers-738_buried_perhaps-the-critics-are-right-and-the-dr_43252.jpg)
