How to Fart, 1530

painting of Erasmus, looking serious Hans Holbein the Younger,
Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1523)

Some teach that boys should keep in the gas of their bellies by compressing their buttocks. But it is not civil to become ill while you are trying to seem polite. If it is possible to leave, let him do it alone, but if not, follow the ancient proverb: Hide the fart with a cough.

Desiderius Erasmus, De civilitate morum puerilium

Signature achievements of Erasmus, Prince of Humanists: groundbreaking scholarship, incisive social criticism, and the rediscovery of ancient fart-concealing techniques.

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