The tongue is a wild beast; once let loose it is difficult to chain.
[Es fiera la lengua, que si una vez se suelta, es muy dificultosa de poderse volver a encadenar.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 222 (1647) [tr. Jacobs (1892)]
(Source)
(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:
The Tongue is a wild Beast, very hard to be chained again, when once it is let loose. [Flesher ed. (1685)]The tongue is a beast, which once at large, is hard to recapture and to chain.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]
The tongue is a wild animal, and once it breaks loose, it is hard to return to its cage.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]
Quotations about:
tongue
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
I muse not that your Dog turds oft doth eat;
To a tongue that licks your lips, a turd’s sweet meat.[Os et labra tibi lingit, Manneia, catellus:
Non miror, merdas si libet esse cani.]Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]
Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 1, epigram 83 (1.83) (AD 85-86) [tr. Davison (1608)]
(Source)
"On Manneia." (Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:
That thy Dog loves to lick thy Lips, th'art pleas'd;
He'll lick that too, of which thy Belly's eas'd;
And not to flatter, and the Truth to smother,
I do believe, he knows not one from t'other.
[tr. Killigrew (1695)]
On thy lov'd lips, the whelpling lambent hung.
No wonder if a dog can feed on dung.
[tr. Elphinston (1782), Book 12, ep. 171]
Your lap-dog, Manneia, licks your mouth and lips:
I do not wonder at a dog liking to eat ordure.
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]
Your face and lips, Manneia, your little dog licks;
I don't wonder that a dog likes to eat filth.
[tr. Ker (1919)]
Your dog licks your mouth and you don't push him from it.
But what says the proverb -- "A dog and his vomit"?
[tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]
Your puppy licks your face and your lips:
No wonder, considering the way he also dips
into turds.
[tr. Bovie (1970)]
Your little dog licks you from head to foot
Am I surprised, Manneia?
Not a bit.
I’m not surprised that dogs like shit.
[tr. O'Connell (1987)]
Manneia, your little dog licks your face and lips. Small wonder that a dog likes eating dung.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]
Manneia, your lapdog licks his lips with his tongue.
It’s no surprise that a dog likes eating dung.
[tr. McLean (2014)]
Dear Manneia:
Your lapdog’s licking your lips and chin:
no wonder with that shit-eating grin.
[tr. Juster (2016)]
Your little puppy licks your mouth and lips --
Manneia, I no longer find it strange
That dogs are tempted by the smell of turds.
[tr. Salemi]
Your puppy licks your mouth and lips
And never wants to quit.
Manneia, I don't wonder why.
All dogs eat their shit.
[tr. Cooper]
