Why So Serious?

Prudence is known in the serious, which is more accredited than the ingenious. He who is always joking is never a real man. We equate them to liars in not believing them. It is never known when they talk with sense, which is the same as their not having it. There is no bigger snub than the continuous wittiness. They win fame as humorists and lose their reputation as wise men. Cheerfulness must have its moment; the rest of the time is for seriousness.

Baltasar Gracián, Manual Oracle, XVII Century