Publius Papinius Statius Quotes
Virtue may be cheerful without forgetting its dignity.
Day, Edward Parsons. Day's Collacon: An Encyclopaedia of Prose Quotations. International Printing and Publishing Office, 1884, p. 981.
This is one of the proverbs of King Solomon of the Jews, son of King David.
This Puritanical point of view, has always characterized a significant segment of American society. It is responsible for the rather limited pomp and circumstances, ceremony and protocol of American politics compared with most of the rest of the world. Ironically, when Adams later became President, he thought that America had gone too far and needed more formality and elegance—especially in the treatment of the Presidency. He was then opposed by most who preferred his earlier view and that of his opponent, Thomas Jefferson.
Publius Papinius Statius (/ˈsteɪʃiəs/; c. 45—c. 96) was a Roman poet of the 1st century AD. His surviving Latin poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the Thebaid; a collection of occasional poetry, the Silvae; and an unfinished epic, the Achilleid. He is also known for his appearance as a guide in the Purgatory section of Dante's epic poem, the Divine Comedy.
