The Quotable Robertson Davies: The Wit and Wisdom of the Master

W.J. Keith is a retired professor of English at the University of Toronto and author A Sense of Style: Studies in the Art of Fiction in English-Speaking Canada.

Gatherings of an author’s “wit and wisdom” are the modern
equivalents of Victorian collections of a prominent man’s “great
thoughts.” They are pleasant to dip into; yet a responsible reviewer
must read from cover to cover, and, especially when the items are
arranged (as has been done here) by theme, this can be a dulling,
indigestible experience.

Robertson Davies, however, survives the process better than most,
partly because the compiler is careful to identify the characters within
the novels when they speak the sentences in question, thus distancing
them from generalizations by Davies himself. This can be significant.
“The Devil knows corners of us all of which Christ Himself is
ignorant” may well reflect the author’s own sentiments, but how much
more complex it becomes when stated by a priest. Nonetheless, even when
the extracts are presented as one-liners (“Academicism runs in the
blood like syphilis”; “There is more to marriage than four bare legs
in a blanket”), I am convinced that such epigrams are more effective
when encountered with delight in the middle of a block of prose than
when isolated for admiration.

Extracts are taken not only from the novels but also from the plays
(sometimes even from the introductions to plays), the speeches, and
other non-fiction writings, though not, for some reason, from his witty
and wise letters. The wit, incidentally, is more impressive than the
wisdom. Some of the extracts intended to provoke thought rather than
laughter (“One must not quarrel with one’s fate”; “Politics is
the art of the possible”) are surely closer to cliché than to
profundity. But then, as Davies wisely notes, “some clichés are also
important truths.”

This is essentially a coffee-table book (though of more elegant and
manageable proportions than most). It will stimulate conversation on
social occasions and also provide quotations for speech-makers. However,
if it encourages some to explore the full-length books, so much the
better. After all, the best of Robertson Davies is found in the longer
forms of the novel and, even more, the trilogy.