I still should not want you to smile on all occasions:
for nothing is more silly than a silly smile.[Tamen renidere usque quaque te nollem;
Nam risu inepto res ineptior nulla est.]Catullus (c. 84 BC – c. 54 BC) Latin poet [Gaius Valerius Catullus]
Carmina # 39 “To Egnatius,” ll. 15-16 [tr. McDonnell (1998)]
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(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:E'en then that ceaseless ill-tim'd grin forego:
A silly laugh's the silliest thing I know.
[tr. Nott (1795), # 37]I'd say renounce thy ceaseless idiot grin,
A silly laugh is folly, if not sin.
[tr. Cranstoun (1867)]Yet sweetly smiling ever I would have you not,
For silly laughter, it's a silly thing indeed.
[tr. Ellis (1871)]Yet thy incessant grin I would not see,
For naught than laughter silly sillier be.
[tr. Burton (1893)]Still I wish you wouldn't grin forever everywhere; for nothing is more senseless than senseless giggling.
[tr. Smithers (1894)]Still I should not like you to be smiling everlastingly; for there is nothing more silly than a silly laugh.
[tr. Warre Cornish (1904)]I would have you drop your endless grin: for nothing is more inane than inane laughter.
[tr. Stuttaford (1912)]Still not to smile for aye is wisdom's rule:
For folly's laugh proclaims the peerless fool.
[tr. MacNaghten (1925)]I still should still disapprove that constant smile;
It shows a silly, poor, affected style.
[tr. Wright (1926)]Your smile would still offend me; nothing is worse
than senseless laughter from a foolish face.
[tr. Gregory (1931)]I still wouldn't want to see you always grinning,
for nothing is more inept than inept laughter.
[tr. C. Martin (1979)]I’d still not want you to smile all the time:
there’s nothing more foolish than foolishly smiling.
[tr. Kline (2001)]I'd still not want you flashing yours all round since
nothing's more fatuous than a fatuous grin.
[tr. Green (2005)]I still should not want you to smile on all occasions:
for nothing is more silly than a silly smile.
[tr. Wikisource (2018)]
Quotations about:
grinning
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
Some by their continual grinning, and shewing their Teeth, make Men doubt whether they honor them, or laugh at them.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 1395 (1725)
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