--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For, let's face it, digression is the…" description: "\"“For, let's face it, digression is the soul of wit. Take philosophic asides away from Dante, Milton or Hamlet's father's ghost and what stays is dry bo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/129/ray-bradbury-75_censorship_for-let-s-face-it-digression-is-the-soul_1838764.jpg" --- # For, let's face it, digression is the soul of wit. Take… ![“For, let's face it, digression is the soul of wit. Take philosophic asides away from Dante, Milton or Hamlet's father's ghost and what stays is dry bones.” quote by Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/129/ray-bradbury-75_censorship_for-let-s-face-it-digression-is-the-soul_1838764.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/129/ray-bradbury-75_censorship_for-let-s-face-it-digression-is-the-soul_1838764.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/129/ray-bradbury-75_censorship_for-let-s-face-it-digression-is-the-soul_1838764.jpg) > ““For, let's face it, digression is the soul of wit. Take philosophic asides away from Dante, Milton or Hamlet's father's ghost and what stays is dry bones.”” [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Digressions strip away literary depth, leaving only the bare structure of wit. **In simple terms:** Wit loses depth without context. Key Takeaway Value context in humor. Themes literature humor digression analysis Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - book clubs - writing workshops - literary criticism - teaching literature Key Concepts narrative structure intertextuality critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - Why do we enjoy digressions? - Can wit exist without references? A Different Perspective Wit can be shallow without substance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Censorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censorship/) [Digression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/digression/) [Dry bones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dry-bones/) [Witty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/witty/) ## Related quotes > [Digression is the soul of wit. Take the philosophic asides away from Dante, Milton or Hamlet's father's ghost and what stays is dry bones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/digression-is-the-soul-of-wit-take-the-philosophic-asides-away-from/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Digression is the soul of wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/digression-is-the-soul-of-wit/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“Every song has a CODA, a final movement. Whether it fades out or crashes away, every song ends. Is that any reason not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellie/every-song-has-a-coda-a-final-movement-whether-it-fades-out-or/) Ellie > [I don't want people to think about one common thing. Coda is non-discursive, just like choreography for the stage. So each audience member's thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martine-epoque/i-don-t-want-people-to-think-about-one-common-thing-coda-is-non/) [Martine Epoque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martine-epoque/) > [“Tal vez amar es aprender a caminar por este mundo”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/tal-vez-amar-es-aprender-a-caminar-por-este-mundo/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [I'm a Coda, a child of deaf adults. I belong to an international organisation. There's Codas all over the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-raci/i-m-a-coda-a-child-of-deaf-adults-i-belong-to-an-international/) [Paul Raci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-raci/) > [Brevity may be the soul of wit, but not when someone's saying "I love you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-viorst/brevity-may-be-the-soul-of-wit-but-not-when-someone-s-saying-i-love/) [Judith Viorst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-viorst/) > [Impropriety is the soul of wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/impropriety-is-the-soul-of-wit/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Brevity is the soul of wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/brevity-is-the-soul-of-wit/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If brevity is the soul of wit then brevity and levity are the whole of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-r-burch/if-brevity-is-the-soul-of-wit-then-brevity-and-levity-are-the-whole/) [Michael R. Burch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-r-burch/) > [“That digression business got on my nerves. I don't now. The trouble with me is, I like it when somebody digresses. It's more interesting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/that-digression-business-got-on-my-nerves-i-don-t-now-the-trouble/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [The inclination to digress is human. But the dramatist must avoid it even more strenuously than the saint must avoid sin, for while sin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-inclination-to-digress-is-human-but-the-dramatist-must-avoid-it/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“the feeling of being a digression not the link in the argument, a new direction, an offshoot, the limb going on elsewhere, and liking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorie-graham/the-feeling-of-being-a-digression-not-the-link-in-the-argument-a-new/) [Jorie Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorie-graham/) > [“(This is not a digression.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/this-is-not-a-digression/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [“The real secret, though, is that nobody belongs, whether they are natives or not. After expulsion from paradise all humans are in exile. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-codrescu/the-real-secret-though-is-that-nobody-belongs-whether-they-are/) [Andrei Codrescu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-codrescu/) ## More by Ray Bradbury > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Do you ever read any of the books you burn?" He laughed. "That's against the law!" "Oh. Of course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/do-you-ever-read-any-of-the-books-you-burn-he-laughed-that-s-against/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [There's no reason to burn books if you don't read them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/there-s-no-reason-to-burn-books-if-you-don-t-read-them/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [We were put here as witnesses to the miracle of life. We see the stars, and we want them. 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The more you eat, the more you want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-library-is-the-biggest-cracker-box-factory-in-the-world-the-more/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [We travel for romance, we travel for architecture, and we travel to be lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/we-travel-for-romance-we-travel-for-architecture-and-we-travel-to-be/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I spent three days a week for 10 years educating myself in the public library, and it's better than college. 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Where there is none, it is pretty certain that the official…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/when-there-is-official-censorship-it-is-a-sign-that-speech-is-serious/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [“I agree that it's a shame some books have to suffer ratings that clearly are invalid. However I can't think of a way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otis-y-chandler/i-agree-that-it-s-a-shame-some-books-have-to-suffer-ratings-that/) Otis Y. Chandler > [I think that, honestly, people's censorship issues are personal but I disagree with most of those personal choices that I see others make. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-rogen/i-think-that-honestly-people-s-censorship-issues-are-personal-but-i/) [Seth Rogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-rogen/) > [Art made tongue-tied by authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/art-made-tongue-tied-by-authority/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“The tendency to want what has been banned and therefore to presume that it is more worthwhile is not limited to such commodities as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-cialdini/the-tendency-to-want-what-has-been-banned-and-therefore-to-presume/) [Robert B. 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