"There
is no kind of false Wit which has been so recommended by the Practice
of all Ages, as that which consists in a Jingle of Words, and is
comprehended under the general Name of Punning. It is indeed impossible
to kill a Weed, which the Soil has a natural Disposition to produce. The
seeds of Punning are in the Minds of all Men, and tho' they may be
subdued by Reason, Reflection, and good Sense, they will be very apt to
shoot up in the greatest Genius, that is not broken and cultivated by
the Rules of Art. Imitation is natural to us, and when it does not raise
the Mind to Poetry, Painting, Musick, or other more noble Arts, it
often breaks out in Punns and Quibbles."
-Joseph Addison
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