Painterly smoking cigar resting on a red silk cushion in warm light.

Original artwork, not a still

Mary Wilson Little

A youth with his first cigar makes himself sick; a youth with his first girl makes everybody sick.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The aphorism contrasts two youthful firsts. A boy's first cigar makes only himself ill, but his first sweetheart afflicts everyone around him. The joke is that early romance is more tiresome to onlookers than any bad habit, since its effects spread beyond the person feeling them.

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