Beauty, alone, may please, not captivate;
If lacking grace, ’tis but a hookless bait.
κάλλος ἄνευ χαρίτων τέρπει μόνον, οὐ κατέχει δέ,
ὡς ἄτερ ἀγκίστρου νηχόμενον δέλεαρ.
ὡς ἄτερ ἀγκίστρου νηχόμενον δέλεαρ.
Original text (Ancient Greek)
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Source, in full
Palatine Anthology, Book V, Epigram 67. Translated by Lilla Cabot Perry, From the Garden of Hellas (New York, 1891), p. 105. Misattributed to Wolfgang Capito in Burton Stevenson, The Home Book of Quotations (New York, 1934), pp. 131, 2293