--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Certainly silly things do cease to be…" description: "\"“Certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.”\" — Jane Austen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/jane-austen-39_silly-things_certainly-silly-things-do-cease-to-be-si_2221192.jpg" --- # Certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are… ![“Certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.” quote by Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/jane-austen-39_silly-things_certainly-silly-things-do-cease-to-be-si_2221192.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/jane-austen-39_silly-things_certainly-silly-things-do-cease-to-be-si_2221192.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/jane-austen-39_silly-things_certainly-silly-things-do-cease-to-be-si_2221192.jpg) > ““Certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.”” [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Sensible people can make foolish acts seem reasonable when done boldly. **In simple terms:** Boldness can mask foolishness. Key Takeaway Question bold actions critically. Themes social norms boldness perception Mood wry critical Type satirical philosophical When to use this quote - political decisions - business ventures - personal relationships - public speaking Key Concepts social psychology behavioral economics literary satire Questions to Reflect On - When does boldness become reckless? - How can you discern sensible from foolish boldness? A Different Perspective Boldness may be misused to hide flaws. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cease Silly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cease-silly-1117014/) [Certainly Silly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainly-silly-4957678/) [People Impudent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-impudent-1298416/) [Sensible People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensible-people-237694/) [Silly Sensible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silly-sensible-2911082/) [Silly things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silly-things/) ## Related quotes > [Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/silly-things-do-cease-to-be-silly-if-they-are-done-by-sensible-people/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [I do not know whether it ought to be so, but certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-do-not-know-whether-it-ought-to-be-so-but-certainly-silly-things-do/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“I do not know whether it ought to be so, but certain silly things cease to be silly if done by sensible people in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-do-not-know-whether-it-ought-to-be-so-but-certain-silly-things/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Aren’t we running at a loss?” asked Max. Perdu shrugged his shoulders. “Financially speaking, yes. But it’s well known that reading makes people impudent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-george/aren-t-we-running-at-a-loss-asked-max-perdu-shrugged-his-shoulders/) [Nina George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-george/) > [“If you hope for any sort of dialogue and unity with all factions on the vaguely leftist or radical side of politics, you must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/if-you-hope-for-any-sort-of-dialogue-and-unity-with-all-factions-on/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [My parents are wonderful, practical, sensible people, and the expectation was that I would study something academic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-chan/my-parents-are-wonderful-practical-sensible-people-and-the/) [Gemma Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-chan/) > [Sensible people find nothing useless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-fontaine/sensible-people-find-nothing-useless/) [Jean de La Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-fontaine/) > [Most people can tire of a lecture in fifteen minutes, clever people can do it in five, and sensible people don't go to lectures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-leacock/most-people-can-tire-of-a-lecture-in-fifteen-minutes-clever-people/) [Stephen Leacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-leacock/) > [Sensible people get the greater part of their own dying done during their own lifetime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/sensible-people-get-the-greater-part-of-their-own-dying-done-during/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [I have never been able to understand why perfectly sensible people waste time being wittily obscure instead of just saying what they want and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/i-have-never-been-able-to-understand-why-perfectly-sensible-people/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [We need sensible people in the system, who are honest and passionate about the country and will not fall pray to corruption.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manini-mishra/we-need-sensible-people-in-the-system-who-are-honest-and-passionate/) [Manini Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manini-mishra/) > [No good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are feeling sensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/no-good-opera-plot-can-be-sensible-for-people-do-not-sing-when-they/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [It is all very well for so-called sensible people to recommend flat heels and short skirts, but most of us prefer not to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-held/it-is-all-very-well-for-so-called-sensible-people-to-recommend-flat/) [Anna Held](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-held/) > [Nobody can live in society without conventions. The reason why sensible people are as conventional as they can bear to be is that conventionality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/nobody-can-live-in-society-without-conventions-the-reason-why/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More by Jane Austen > [Let us have the luxury of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/let-us-have-the-luxury-of-silence/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“How earnestly did she then wish that her former opinions had been more reasonable, more moderate!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/how-earnestly-did-she-then-wish-that-her-former-opinions-had-been/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“it is very well worth-while to be tormented for two or three years of one's life, for the sake of being able to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-very-well-worth-while-to-be-tormented-for-two-or-three-years-of/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [ “Everybody is taken in at some period or another. \[...\] In marriage especially. \[...\] There is not one in a hundred of either sex,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/everybody-is-taken-in-at-some-period-or-another-in-marriage/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [She knew that what Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment, they believed the next: that with them, to wish was to hope, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/she-knew-that-what-marianne-and-her-mother-conjectured-one-moment/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“…for I look upon the Frasers to be about as unhappy as most other married people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/for-i-look-upon-the-frasers-to-be-about-as-unhappy-as-most-other/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“It raises my spleen more than any thing, to have the pretence of being asked, of being given a choice, and at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-raises-my-spleen-more-than-any-thing-to-have-the-pretence-of-being/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [her spirits wanted the solitude and silence which only numbers could give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/her-spirits-wanted-the-solitude-and-silence-which-only-numbers-could/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“But in such cases as these a good memory is unpardonable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/but-in-such-cases-as-these-a-good-memory-is-unpardonable/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“...the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-pleasantness-of-an-employment-does-not-always-evince-its-propriety/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-must-tell-you-what-you-will-not-ask-though-i-may-wish-it-unsaid-the/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/lady-catherine-seemed-quite-astonished-at-not-receiving-a-direct/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“He had suffered, and he had learnt to think, two advantages that he had never known before…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/he-had-suffered-and-he-had-learnt-to-think-two-advantages-that-he-had/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Eliot's character; vanity of person and of situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/vanity-was-the-beginning-and-the-end-of-sir-walter-eliot-s-character/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) [Explore all 2,013 Jane Austen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## More Silly things quotes > [I'll run through things over and over and over again in my head and think, "How could I have done that better?" Silly things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryce-dallas-howard/i-ll-run-through-things-over-and-over-and-over-again-in-my-head-and/) [Bryce Dallas Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryce-dallas-howard/) > [No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/no-man-is-exempt-from-saying-silly-things-the-mischief-is-to-say-them/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Oh dear," said Sarah anxiously, "I do wish he wouldn't do these silly things." I'm sure we all wish that, Sarah," said Marcia sternly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-sage/oh-dear-said-sarah-anxiously-i-do-wish-he-wouldn-t-do-these-silly/) [Angie Sage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-sage/) > [One does silly things when one is twelve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/one-does-silly-things-when-one-is-twelve/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Friends don't let friends do silly things alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hussein-nishah/friends-don-t-let-friends-do-silly-things-alone/) [Hussein Nishah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hussein-nishah/) > [NFL owners should quit worrying about silly things like players celebrating in the end zone. They should give them something to really celebrate. Get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-j-simpson/nfl-owners-should-quit-worrying-about-silly-things-like-players/) [O. J. Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-j-simpson/) > [“Romance makes people forget themselves, do silly things”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/romance-makes-people-forget-themselves-do-silly-things/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Wine has made me bold, but not foolish; has induced me to say silly things, but not do them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duff-cooper/wine-has-made-me-bold-but-not-foolish-has-induced-me-to-say-silly/) [Duff Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duff-cooper/) > [“What I can't understand is why the silly things you say makes so much sense." "I'll tell you why," said Papa Dima. "It's because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduard-uspensky/what-i-can-t-understand-is-why-the-silly-things-you-say-makes-so-much/) [Eduard Uspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduard-uspensky/) > [You neva kno who is the 1, the 1 your going to make smile, the 1 your going to make laugh, the 1 your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mccarty/you-neva-kno-who-is-the-1-the-1-your-going-to-make-smile-the-1-your/) [Kevin McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mccarty/) > [Such silly things, children -- and so embarrassing -- because they keep changing themselves out of shame, out of a need to be loved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/such-silly-things-children-and-so-embarrassing-because-they-keep/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [“I've done lots of jobs. Right now, I'm a hair collector." "That's good", said Ishvar tentatively. "What do you have to do as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohinton-mistry/i-ve-done-lots-of-jobs-right-now-i-m-a-hair-collector-that-s-good/) [Rohinton Mistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohinton-mistry/) > [Burgundy makes you think of silly things; Bordeaux makes you talk about them, and Champagne makes you do them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/burgundy-makes-you-think-of-silly-things-bordeaux-makes-you-talk/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [When I first was on Big Time Rush, the TV show, I did a lot of silly things. Among the first episodes that came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-maslow/when-i-first-was-on-big-time-rush-the-tv-show-i-did-a-lot-of-silly/) [James Maslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-maslow/) > [All the stupid silly things people do, say and fuss about now are going to mean absolutely nothing later in life. You see all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-lee-riner/all-the-stupid-silly-things-people-do-say-and-fuss-about-now-are/) [Justin Lee Riner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-lee-riner/) [Browse all 145 Silly things quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silly-things/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jane Austen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/certainly-silly-things-do-cease-to-be-silly-if-they-are-done-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Silly things" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/certainly-silly-things-do-cease-to-be-silly-if-they-are-done-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/jane-austen-39_silly-things_certainly-silly-things-do-cease-to-be-si_2221192.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/jane-austen-39_silly-things_certainly-silly-things-do-cease-to-be-si_2221192.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/jane-austen-39_silly-things_certainly-silly-things-do-cease-to-be-si_2221192.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.” — Jane Austen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jane Austen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Certainly silly things do cease to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/certainly-silly-things-do-cease-to-be-silly-if-they-are-done-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/certainly-silly-things-do-cease-to-be-silly-if-they-are-done-by/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```