“I do not love thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell;
But this alone I know full well,
I do not love thee, Doctor Fell.”

— Thomas Brown

Laconics, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). A slightly different version is found in Brown's Works collected and published after his death. Compare: "Non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare; Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te" (translation: "I do not love thee, Sabidius, nor can I say why; this only I can say, I do not love thee"), Martial, Epigram i. 33; "Je ne vous aime pas, Hylas; Je n'en saurois dire la cause, Je sais seulement une chose; C'est que je ne vous aime pas", Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau, Comte de Rabutin (1618–1693).
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Thomas Brown 3

English translator and writer of satire 1662–1704

Related quotes

“I do not love thee, Sabidius, nor can I say why; this only I can say, I do not love thee.”

Martial book Epigrammata

I, 32, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). Compare: "I do not love thee, Doctor Fell, / The reason why I cannot tell; / But this alone I know full well, / I do not love thee, Doctor Fell", Tom Brown, Laconics.
Epigrams (c. 80 – 104 AD)