I'd suggest for a start, although I know of no such saying

Frechheit is not "quick-wittedness." It's about being sassy, fresh (im Sinne von eben "frech"), having a smart mouth etc.

I'm not sure how you can make that a bit more poetic however.

Sassiness rules?

@ Bill: sounds nice

"rules" trifft es nicht ganz (das geht in die Richtung "alle Leute sind unverschämt")

brashness rules

evtl.

"rules" is perfectly okay in this context, despite M-A-Z's objection. :-)

How about chutzpah pays/rules?

chutzpah = a lot of confidence and courage to do something, esp. something that might involve being impolite to someone in authority

"It took a lot of chutzpah to quit your job like that."

And the resolution to this scene is exquisite in its chutzpah and farcical bad taste.

And who else would have the happy chutzpah to seem so natural doing it?

But you can't help admiring the chutzpah.

Had word of Hanson's interest leaked to the market, the stockbroker's chutzpah could almost have bankrupted the firm.

His reputation, along with luck and chutzpah, helped him get unique access to Ames.

His was a lifetime spent on the borderline between chutzpah and hubris.

No one else has the chutzpah to claim that.

This is chutzpah on rye bread with a side order of pickles and sour cream.

@dude: He's pretty much the guy you see on screen and the humour isnt really deadpan it's subtle; so in a country where brashness rules and subtlety is serously ...
www.aintitcool.com/talkback_display/33032 -

I'd say that the only one hit you get on the Internet for "brashness rules" disproves your assertion.

@Carola: chutzpah is more like admiration for sb's courage (see above)

I'd say that the only one hit you get on the Internet for "brashness rules" disproves your assertion.
M-A-Z: I actually liked Bob's suggestion and offered "brashness" as an alternative. My point, however, was that "rules" works fine, at least for a US audience, for which, by the way, "cheekiness pays off" wouldn't work at all.

Why?

because a) cheekiness is a typically BE type of word; AE speakers hardly if ever use it; and b) because "pays off" is misplaced, IMHO. Usually, the winner gets to rule. :-)

"cheek" and "cheekiness" are not marked as BE in LEO. What is the American counterpart?

"Frechheit siegt" does not refer to a game with a winner and a loser, and impudence as an abstract behaviour can hardly be a winner, anyway. So, IMO "to pay off" is quite appropriate for expressing that when being cheeky you get what you want. It's similar to "Don't ask, don't get"

@Andi/M-A-z: What is the American counterpart?
Any of these: audacity, boldness, brazenness, brashness.

"Frechheit siegt" does not refer to a game with a winner and a loser...

I never made that claim; I was merely having an allegorical moment. But still, in the context given, "rules" would be an apt translation for "siegt." At least in AE.

habe ich gerade für "wer wagt, gewinnt" gefunden. Ist das bekannt/üblich?

klingt auf jeden fall gut :-)

hier gibts schon was dazu

Dies is ein auf englisch wohlbekanntes Sprichwort.