Jugend hat keine Tugend
German
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Literally, “youth has no virtue”. Compare Dutch jeugd heeft geen deugd.
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio: (file)
Proverb
[edit]- young people are less likely to follow a moral and virtuous lifestyle (e.g. because they find it hard to control their desires)
- before 1885, Theodor Fontane, Private letter to Bernhard von Lepel, quoted in Fontane zum Vergnügen, Reclam, published 2011, page 103:
- »Jugend hat keine Tugend« ist falsch, wie fast alle Sprichwörter; wenn wer noch Tugend hat, so ist’s eben die Jugend.
- “Youth has no virtue” is wrong, like almost all proverbs; if anyone still has virtue, it’s the young.