"The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next good sense, the third good humor, and the fourth wit"
About this Quote
Temple frames conversation as a craft with a moral foundation and a graceful finish. He begins with truth, making honesty the nonnegotiable base; without it, talk collapses into performance or manipulation. Next comes good sense, the capacity to judge what is fitting, to sift relevance from noise, and to recognize proportion. Truth without judgment can be bluntness, even cruelty; good sense shapes candor into something others can receive.
The third element, good humor, adds generosity of spirit. It is a readiness to assume the best, to soften disagreements, and to make room for human frailty. Good humor keeps truth from turning harsh and good sense from becoming pedantry. Finally comes wit, the sparkle that delights, clarifies, and surprises; but by placing it last, Temple warns against letting cleverness lead. Wit unsupported by the first three becomes sarcasm, vanity, or mere verbal display.
The order matters because Temple, a 17th-century diplomat and essayist in Restoration England, wrote within a culture that prized the ethics of sociability. Coffeehouses and salons elevated conversation to an art, yet his emphasis shows suspicion of empty brilliance. As a friend and mentor to Jonathan Swift, he belonged to a tradition that valued clarity and moral seriousness beneath polished style. His recipe aims to preserve civility while protecting against fashionable shallowness.
Read this way, the dictum also diagnoses modern talk. A media environment encourages wit first: the cutting line, the instant take. Temple reverses the impulse. Start with what is true, use judgment to frame it, bring good humor to sustain fellowship, and only then adorn with wit. The result is conversation that informs, respects, and delights in that order. It is not an argument against sparkle but a call to anchor it, so that the light of wit illuminates rather than scorches.
The third element, good humor, adds generosity of spirit. It is a readiness to assume the best, to soften disagreements, and to make room for human frailty. Good humor keeps truth from turning harsh and good sense from becoming pedantry. Finally comes wit, the sparkle that delights, clarifies, and surprises; but by placing it last, Temple warns against letting cleverness lead. Wit unsupported by the first three becomes sarcasm, vanity, or mere verbal display.
The order matters because Temple, a 17th-century diplomat and essayist in Restoration England, wrote within a culture that prized the ethics of sociability. Coffeehouses and salons elevated conversation to an art, yet his emphasis shows suspicion of empty brilliance. As a friend and mentor to Jonathan Swift, he belonged to a tradition that valued clarity and moral seriousness beneath polished style. His recipe aims to preserve civility while protecting against fashionable shallowness.
Read this way, the dictum also diagnoses modern talk. A media environment encourages wit first: the cutting line, the instant take. Temple reverses the impulse. Start with what is true, use judgment to frame it, bring good humor to sustain fellowship, and only then adorn with wit. The result is conversation that informs, respects, and delights in that order. It is not an argument against sparkle but a call to anchor it, so that the light of wit illuminates rather than scorches.
Quote Details
| Topic | Truth |
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