Source identified
“Why is a raven like a writing-desk?”
Voice: Fictional character · Mad Hatter
The riddle is memorable because it originally arrives without a practical answer, making nonsense itself part of the social game at the tea party.
Source note: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 7; the Mad Hatter asks Alice the famous riddle at the tea party.
Source identified
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
Voice: Fictional character · White Queen
The absurd boast celebrates imaginative flexibility and the ability to entertain possibilities before demanding immediate proof.
Source note: Through the Looking-Glass, Chapter 5.
Source identified
“We’re all mad here.”
Voice: Fictional character · Cheshire Cat
The Cheshire Cat turns abnormality into a shared condition, humorously questioning who gets to define what counts as normal.
Source note: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 6.
Source identified
“Brevity is the soul of wit.”
Voice: Fictional character · Polonius
The line praises compression: saying less can sharpen meaning when the words that remain do real work.
Source note: Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2; Polonius says this while promising the King and Queen he will be brief, immediately before continuing at comic length. The dramatic irony is part of the line’s context.
Source identified
“Fish and visitors stink in three days.”
Hospitality has limits, and the humor works by comparing an overlong visit with something that naturally becomes unpleasant over time.
Source note: Poor Richard’s Almanack; a comic maxim about hospitality, boundaries, and overstaying a welcome.
Source identified
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
Voice: Dialogue speaker · Socrates
Socrates links a worthwhile human life with reflection on beliefs, conduct, and reasons rather than unexamined routine.
Source note: Apology 38a; wording varies by translation.