Its body brevity, and wit its soul.

What is an epigram? a dwarfish whole, its body brevity, and wit its soul

Brevity is the soul of wit.

BISOW........ (Brevity is the soul of Wit)

The Knight's bones are dust, / And his good sword rust; - / His soul is with the saints, I trust.

The genius of the Spanish people is exquisitely subtle, without being at all acute; hence there is so much humour and so little wit in their literature.