Oscar Wilde has just been named Britain's greatest wit. If there were a World Cup for wit , I am sure he would place nicely there as well. Americans don't seem to appreciate the clever quip. Yes, we had Mark Twain, but about as far as most of us get into him is Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn. Not only are quotes of his like "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please" just funny, but most still ring true. But Wilde was special. He lived for wit. Whereas Paris Hilton may be famous because she falls down drunk, Wilde was famous because he would be drunk and still the one-liners would just keep coming. ("I have discovered . . . that alcohol taken in sufficient quantity produces all the effects of drunkenness") Supposedly, when entering the United States, he was asked if he had anything to declare by the customs official. Wilde replied, "I have nothing to declare but my genius." Anyways, more than a century after throwing him in jail and basically killing the man, Britain now recognizes what a great treasure he was.
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