---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don't laugh at a youth for his…"
description: "\"Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he's only trying on one face after another till he finds his own\" — Logan Pearsall Smith"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/813/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_affectation_don-t-laugh-at-a-youth-for-his-affectati_805041.png"
---

#  Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he's only…

![“Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he's only trying on one face after another till he finds his own” quote by Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/813/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_affectation_don-t-laugh-at-a-youth-for-his-affectati_805041.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/813/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_affectation_don-t-laugh-at-a-youth-for-his-affectati_805041.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/813/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_affectation_don-t-laugh-at-a-youth-for-his-affectati_805041.png)

> “Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he's only trying on one face after another till he finds his own”

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Young people experiment with different identities until they discover their true self.

**In simple terms:** Youth try many roles to find themselves.

Key Takeaway

Support self‑exploration.

Themes

identity growth self‑discovery

Mood

reflective encouraging

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- adolescence
- career choices
- creative projects
- social interactions

Key Concepts

personal development social roles

Questions to Reflect On

- What experiences shape your authentic identity?
- How can mentors guide youthful experimentation?

A Different Perspective

Not all experimentation leads to healthy outcomes.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Affectation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affectation/) [Laughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughter/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/)

## Related quotes

> [Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he is only trying on one face after another to find a face of his own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-laugh-at-a-youth-for-his-affectations-he-is-only-trying-on-one/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Don't laugh at youth for his affectations; he is only trying on one face after another to find his own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/don-t-laugh-at-youth-for-his-affectations-he-is-only-trying-on-one/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [I'm trying to keep the face of my opponent more or less not damaged but eventually to execute the plan and knock him out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wladimir-klitschko/i-m-trying-to-keep-the-face-of-my-opponent-more-or-less-not-damaged/)

[Wladimir Klitschko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wladimir-klitschko/)

> [“I'd think, That ain't me, that ain't my face. It wasn't even me when I was trying to be that face. I wasn't even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/i-d-think-that-ain-t-me-that-ain-t-my-face-it-wasn-t-even-me-when-i/)

[Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/)

> [For my first acting gig, I was a hand model for a Barbie commercial that was only going to air in Asia. And I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-daddario/for-my-first-acting-gig-i-was-a-hand-model-for-a-barbie-commercial/)

[Alexandra Daddario](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-daddario/)

> ['Snow White' is an old fairy tale, so obviously the idea of vanity and obsession with youth is long-standing. With today's science, people have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-roberts/snow-white-is-an-old-fairy-tale-so-obviously-the-idea-of-vanity-and/)

[Julia Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-roberts/)

> [I've been trying face products since I was, like 13, 12 years old. I use to break out a lot, especially in my teen years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hennessy-carolina/i-ve-been-trying-face-products-since-i-was-like-13-12-years-old-i-use/)

[Hennessy Carolina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hennessy-carolina/)

> [That ain't me, that ain't my face. It wasn't even me when I was trying to be that face. I wasn't even really me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/that-ain-t-me-that-ain-t-my-face-it-wasn-t-even-me-when-i-was-trying/)

[Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/)

> [I don't like affectation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-don-t-like-affectation/)

[Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/)

> [The only source of the true Ridiculous (as it appears to me) is affectation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/the-only-source-of-the-true-ridiculous-as-it-appears-to-me-is/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [Affectation is a very good word when someone does not wish to confess to what he would none the less like to believe of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/affectation-is-a-very-good-word-when-someone-does-not-wish-to-confess/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I have no affectation when I speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kudrow/i-have-no-affectation-when-i-speak/)

[Lisa Kudrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kudrow/)

> [Affectation is to be always distinguished from hypocrisy as being the art of counterfeiting those qualities, which we might with innocence and safety, be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/affectation-is-to-be-always-distinguished-from-hypocrisy-as-being-the/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

> [Mannerism is not character, and affectation is the avowed enemy of grace. Every dancer ought to regard his laborious art as a link in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-bournonville/mannerism-is-not-character-and-affectation-is-the-avowed-enemy-of/)

[August Bournonville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-bournonville/)

> [Look for all fancy wordings and get rid of themAvoid all terms and expressions, old or new, that embody affectation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/look-for-all-fancy-wordings-and-get-rid-of-themavoid-all-terms-and/)

[Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/)

## More by Logan Pearsall Smith

> [The indefatigable pursuit of an unattainable perfection -even though nothing more than the pounding of an old piano -is what alone gives a meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/the-indefatigable-pursuit-of-an-unattainable-perfection-even-though/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [If you want to be thought a liar, always tell the truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/if-you-want-to-be-thought-a-liar-always-tell-the-truth/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [All reformers, however strict their social conscience, live in houses just as big as they can pay for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/all-reformers-however-strict-their-social-conscience-live-in-houses/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [The ladies who try to keep their beauty are the ladies who lose it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/the-ladies-who-try-to-keep-their-beauty-are-the-ladies-who-lose-it/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [Youth is the time for adventures of the body, but age for the triumphs of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/youth-is-the-time-for-adventures-of-the-body-but-age-for-the-triumphs/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [Every author, however modest, keeps a most outrageous vanity chained like a madman in the padded cell of his breast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/every-author-however-modest-keeps-a-most-outrageous-vanity-chained/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [If you are losing your leisure, look out! You are losing your soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/if-you-are-losing-your-leisure-look-out-you-are-losing-your-soul/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [One's own vanities and humiliations I find a delicious subject for conversation. Things said of me behind my back I don't enjoy, and don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/one-s-own-vanities-and-humiliations-i-find-a-delicious-subject-for/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [The word snob belongs to the sour-grape vocabulary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/the-word-snob-belongs-to-the-sour-grape-vocabulary/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [Those who set out to serve both God and Mammon soon discover that there isn't a God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/those-who-set-out-to-serve-both-god-and-mammon-soon-discover-that/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [Hearts that are delicate and kind and tongues that are neither - these make the finest company in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/hearts-that-are-delicate-and-kind-and-tongues-that-are-neither-these/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [Whiskey has killed more men than bullets, but most men would rather be full of whiskey than bullets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/whiskey-has-killed-more-men-than-bullets-but-most-men-would-rather-be/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [Style is a magic wand, and turns everything to gold that it touches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/style-is-a-magic-wand-and-turns-everything-to-gold-that-it-touches/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [When elderly invalids meet with fellow-victims of their own ailments, then at last real conversation begins, and life is delicious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/when-elderly-invalids-meet-with-fellow-victims-of-their-own-ailments/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

> [Fine writers should split hairs together, and sit side by side, like friendly apes, to pick the fleas from each others fur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/fine-writers-should-split-hairs-together-and-sit-side-by-side-like/)

[Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

[Explore all 118 Logan Pearsall Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/)

## More Affectation quotes

> [Mannerism is not character, and affectation is the avowed enemy of grace. Every dancer ought to regard his laborious art as a link in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-bournonville/mannerism-is-not-character-and-affectation-is-the-avowed-enemy-of/)

[August Bournonville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-bournonville/)

> [I have no affectation when I speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kudrow/i-have-no-affectation-when-i-speak/)

[Lisa Kudrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kudrow/)

> [Affectation is a very good word when someone does not wish to confess to what he would none the less like to believe of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/affectation-is-a-very-good-word-when-someone-does-not-wish-to-confess/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I don't like affectation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-don-t-like-affectation/)

[Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/)

> [Look for all fancy wordings and get rid of themAvoid all terms and expressions, old or new, that embody affectation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/look-for-all-fancy-wordings-and-get-rid-of-themavoid-all-terms-and/)

[Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/)

> [The only source of the true Ridiculous (as it appears to me) is affectation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/the-only-source-of-the-true-ridiculous-as-it-appears-to-me-is/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [Affectation is to be always distinguished from hypocrisy as being the art of counterfeiting those qualities, which we might with innocence and safety, be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/affectation-is-to-be-always-distinguished-from-hypocrisy-as-being-the/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

> [I have no modesty. Modesty is a learned affectation. It's like decal stuck up on a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-have-no-modesty-modesty-is-a-learned-affectation-it-s-like-decal/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [Affectation is the product of falsehood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/affectation-is-the-product-of-falsehood/)

[Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/)

> [Affectation hath always had a greater share both in the action and discourse of men than truth and judgment have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aphra-behn/affectation-hath-always-had-a-greater-share-both-in-the-action-and/)

[Aphra Behn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aphra-behn/)

> [Affectation proceeds from one of these two causes,--vanity or hypocrisy; for as vanity puts us on affecting false characters, in order to purchase applause;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/affectation-proceeds-from-one-of-these-two-causes-vanity-or-hypocrisy/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [External reality is sort of an affectation of the nervous system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/external-reality-is-sort-of-an-affectation-of-the-nervous-system/)

[Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/)

> [There is a pleasure in affecting affectation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/there-is-a-pleasure-in-affecting-affectation/)

[Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/)

> [Affectation is an awkward and forced imitation of what should be genuine and easy, wanting the beauty that accompanies what is natural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/affectation-is-an-awkward-and-forced-imitation-of-what-should-be/)

[John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/)

> [Affectation is as necessary to the mind as dress is to the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/affectation-is-as-necessary-to-the-mind-as-dress-is-to-the-body/)

[William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/)

[Browse all 27 Affectation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affectation/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he's only trying on one face after another till he finds his own",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Logan Pearsall Smith"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/don-t-laugh-at-a-youth-for-his-affectations-he-s-only-trying-on-one/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Affectation"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/don-t-laugh-at-a-youth-for-his-affectations-he-s-only-trying-on-one/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/813/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_affectation_don-t-laugh-at-a-youth-for-his-affectati_805041.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/813/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_affectation_don-t-laugh-at-a-youth-for-his-affectati_805041.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/813/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_affectation_don-t-laugh-at-a-youth-for-his-affectati_805041.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he's only trying on one face after another till he finds his own” — Logan Pearsall Smith",
                "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": "Logan Pearsall Smith",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Don't laugh at a youth for...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/don-t-laugh-at-a-youth-for-his-affectations-he-s-only-trying-on-one/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/don-t-laugh-at-a-youth-for-his-affectations-he-s-only-trying-on-one/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```