Quotations about:
    frivolity

And therefore all my trifling Songs adieu,
I now design to seek what’s good and true,
And that alone; I scorn my wanton Muse,
And lay up Precepts, such as I may use.

[Nunc itaque et versus et cetera ludicra pono;
quid verum atque decens curo et rogo et omnis in hoc sum;
condo et compono quae mox depromere possim.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]

Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 1 “To Maecenas,” l. 10ff (1.1.10-12) (20 BC) [tr. Creech (1684)]
    (Source)

This epistle was written when Horace was 45 and decided to quit writing lyric poetry, having finished his third book of Odes.

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

And therefore now I lay my rimes. and other toyes asyde
Devysing things of honestie, and therin holy byde.
That whych may serve to guide my selfe I muse uppon and make.
[tr. Drant (1567)]

Therefore Love-songs, and all those toyes adieu,
My work is now to search what's good, what's true:
I lay in precepts, which I straight may draw
Out for my use.
[tr. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]

Then here farewell the amusements of my youth:
Farewell to verses; for the search of truth
And moral decency hath fill'd my breast,
Hath every thought and faculty possest;
And I now form my philosophic lore,
For all my future life a treasur'd store.
[tr. Francis (1747)]

Henceforth adieu then to the toys of youth!
Adieu to wit's light sport, and welcome truth!
To con the maxims of the good and wise,
To search where honour and where fitness lies,
Careful to store what after-life may need --
This be my task; for this is wealth indeed!
[tr. Howes (1845)]

Now therefore I lay aside both verses, and all other sportive matters; my study and inquiry is after what is true and fitting, and I am wholly engaged in this: I lay up, and collect rules which I may be able hereafter to bring into use.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

So now I bid my idle songs adieu,
And turn my thoughts to what is right and true;
I search and search, and when I find, I lay
The wisdom up against a rainy day.
[tr. Conington (1874)]

So verses now and all such toys I quit,
Work night and day to find the true and fit.
The lore of sages cull where'er I may.
And hive it up for use some future day.
[tr. Martin (1881)]

Now, therefore, I resign verse composition and sportive measures. What is true and fitting I care for, and inquire about, and am absorbed in it. I am piling up and arranging what I may presently make public.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]

So now I lay aside my verses and all other toys. What is right and seemly is my study and pursuit, and to that am I wholly given. I am putting by and setting in order the stores on which I may some day draw.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]

So now I lay aside
Not only verses but all other toys:
I want to find the true and fitting joys,
And all engrossed in this pursuit am I.
I treasure and arrange what by and by
I may draw forth for guidance from my store.
[tr. Murison; ed. Kramer, Jr. (1936)]

So I lay down my poems and other toys of my youth
To devote myself to one main subject: the truth.
What is right and honest? This I would like to know.
I am laying up stores, setting them all in a row,
Of the only thing that will keep on helping me grow.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

So now I lay my verses down, and all my other games,
to study what is true and good, totally involved in that.
I gather and accumulate supplies that I'll soon use.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]

So I've put away poetry
And other games. I study
Right and wrong. I store up,
Now, what someday I'll need, I lay
It all out.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]

And so I'm giving up my verses and all
Other foolishness of the sort, and now
Devote myself entirely to the study
Of what is genuine and right for me,
Storing up what I learn for the sake of the future.
[tr. Ferry (2001)]

So now I am laying aside my verses and other amusements.
My sole concern is the question "What is right and proper?"
I'm carefully storing things for use in the days ahead.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]

So now I’m setting aside my verse, and other tricks:
My quest and care is what’s right and true, I’m absorbed
In it wholly: I gather, then store for later use.
[tr. Kline (2015)]