Jugend hat keine Tugend

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German

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Etymology

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Literally, youth has no virtue. Compare Dutch jeugd heeft geen deugd.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio:(file)

Proverb

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Jugend hat keine Tugend

  1. 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.