Institutio Oratoria (Quintilian)

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	Institutio Oratoria Author: Quintilian	Translator: Harold Edgeworth Butler
3725	Quorum tamen ea fere ratio est , ut primum docendi , secundum movendi , tertium illud , utrocumque est nomine , delectandi sire , ut alii dicunt , conciliandi praestare videatur officium ; in docendo autem acumen , in conciliando lenitas , in movendo vis exigi videatur . Itaque illo subtili praecipue ratio narrandi probandique consistet , sed saepe id etiam detractis ceteris virtutibus suo genere plenum .	The nature of these three styles is, broadly speaking, as follows. The first would seem best adapted for instructing, the second for moving, and the third (by whichever name we call it) for charming or, as others would have it, conciliating the audience; for instruction the quality most needed is acumen, for conciliation gentleness, and for stirring the emotions force. Consequently it is mainly in the plain style that we shall state our facts and advance our proofs, though it should be borne in mind that this style will often be sufficiently full in itself without any assistance whatever from the other two.
3726	Medius hic modus et translationibus crebrior et figuris erit iucundior , egressionibus amoenus , compositione aptus , sententiis dulcis , lenior tamen ut amnis lucidus quidem sed uirentibus utrinque ripis inumbratus .	The intermediate style will have more frequent recourse to metaphor and will make a more attractive use of figures, while it will introduce alluring digressions, will be neat in rhythm and pleasing in its reflexions: its flow, however, will be gentle, like that of a river whose waters are clear, but overshadowed by the green banks on either side.
3727	At ille , qui saxa devolvat et pontem indignetur et ripas sibi faciat , multus et torrens iudicem vel nitentem contra feret cogetque ire , qua rapiet . Hic orator et defunctos excitabit ut Appium Caecum , apud hunc et patria ipsa exclamabit , aliquandoque ut Ciceronem in oratione contra Catilinam in senatu alloquetur .	But he whose eloquence is like to some great torrent that rolls down rocks and "disdains a bridge" and carves out its own banks for itself, will sweep the judge from his feet, struggle as he may, and force him to go whither he bears him. This is the orator that will call the dead to life (as, for example, Cicero calls upon Appius Caecus ); it is in his pages that his native land itself will cry aloud and at times address the orator himself, as it addresses Cicero in the speech delivered against Catiline in the senate.
3728	Hic et amplificationibus extollet orationem , et in superlationem quoque erigetur . Quae Charybdis tam vorax ? et Oceanus medius fidius ipse . Nota sunt enim iam studiosis haec lumina . Hic deos ipsos in congressum prope suum sermonemque deducet : Vos enim Albani tumuli atque luci ; vos , inquam , Albanorum obrutae arae , sacrorum popli Romani sociae et aequales . Hic iram , hic misericordiam inspirabit , hoc dicente iudex deos appellabit et flebit et per omnes adfectus tractatus huc atque illuc sequetur nec doceri desiderabit .	Such an orator will also exalt his style by amplification and rise even to hyperbole, as when Cicero cries, "What Charybdis was ever so voracious!" or "By the god of truth, even Ocean's self," etc. (I choose these fine passages as being familiar to the student). It is such an one that will bring down the Gods to form part of his audience or even to speak with him, as in the following, " For on you I call, ye hills and groves of Alba, on you, I say, ye fallen altars of the Albans, altars that were once the peers and equals of the holy places of Rome. " This is he that will inspire anger or pity, and while he speaks the judge will call upon the gods and weep, following him wherever he sweeps him from one emotion to another, and no longer asking merely for instruction.
3729	Quare si ex tribus his generibus necessario sit eligendum unum , quis dubitet hoc praeferre omnibus et validissimum alioqui et maximis quibusque causis accommodatissimum ?	Wherefore if one of these three styles has to be selected to the exclusion of the others, who will hesitate to prefer this style to all others, since it is by far the strongest and the best adapted to the most important cases?
3730	Nam et Homerus brevem quidem cum iucunditate et propriam , id enim est non deerrare uerbis , et carentem supervacuis eloquentiam Menelao dedit , quae sunt virtutes generis illius primi , et ex ore Nestoris dixit dulciorem melle profluere sermonem , qua certe delectatione nihil fingi maius potest ; sed summam expressurus in Ulixe facundiam et magnitudinem illi vocis et vim orationis niuibus hibernis et copia verborum atque impetu parem tribuit .	For Homer himself assigns to Menelaus an eloquence, terse and pleasing, exact (for that is what is meant by "making no errors in words" ) and devoid of all redundance, which qualities are virtues of the first type: and he says that from the lips of Nestor flowed speech sweeter than honey, than which assuredly we can conceive no greater delight: but when he seeks to express the supreme gift of eloquence possessed by Ulysses he gives a mighty voice and a vehemence of oratory equal to the snows of winter in the abundance and the vigour of its words.
3731	Cum hoc igitur nemo mortalium contendet ; hunc ut deum homines intuebuntur . Hanc vim et celeritatem in Pericle miratur Eupolis , hanc fulminibus Aristophanes comparat , haec est vere dicendi facultas .	"With him then," he says, "no mortal will contend, and men shall look upon him as on a god." It is this force and impetuosity that Eupolis admires in Pericles, this that Aristophanes compares to the thunderbolt, this that is the power of true eloquence.
3732	Sed neque his tribus quasi formis inclusa eloquentia est . Nam ut inter gracile validumque tertium aliquid constitutum est , ita horum inter se intervalla sunt , atque inter haec ipsa mixtum quiddam ex duobus medium est eorum .	But eloquence cannot be confined even to these three forms of style. For just as the third style is intermediate between the grand and the plain style, so each of these three are separated by interspaces which are occupied by intermediate styles compounded of the two which he on either side.
3733	Nam et subtili plenius aliquid atque subtilius et vehementi remissius atque vehementius invenitur , ut illud lene aut ascendit ad fortiora aut ad tenuiora summittitur . Ac sic prope innumerabiles species reperiuntur , quae utique aliquo momento inter se differant : sicut quattuor ventos generaliter a totidem mundi cardinibus accepimus flare , cum interim plurimi medii et eorum varia nomina et quidam etiam regionum ac fluminum proprii deprehenduntur .	For there are styles fuller or plainer than the plain, and gentler or more vehement than the vehement, while the gentler style itself may either rise to greater force or sink to milder tones. Thus we may discover almost countless species of styles, each differing from the other by some fine shade of difference. We may draw a parallel from the winds. It is generally accepted that there are four blowing from the four quarters of the globe, but we find there are also a large number of winds which he between these, called by a variety of names, and in certain cases confined to certain districts and river valleys.
3734	Eademque musicis ratio est , qui , cum in cithara quinque constituerunt sonos , plurima deinde varietate complent spatia illa nervorum , atque his , quos interposuerunt , inserunt alios , ut pauci illi transitus multos gradus habeant .	The same thing may be noted in music. For after assigning five notes to the lyre, musicians fill up the intervals between the strings by a variety of notes, and between these again they interpose yet others, so that the original divisions admit of a number of gradations.
3735	Plures igitur etiam eloquentiae faces , sed stultissimum quaerere , ad quam se recturus sit orator , cum omnis species , quae modo recta est , habeat usum , atque id ipsum non sit oratoris , quod vulgo genus dicendi vocant . Utetur enim , ut res exiget , omnibus , nec pro causa modo , sed pro partibus causae .	Eloquence has, therefore, a quantity of different aspects, but it is sheer folly to inquire which of these the orator should take as his model, since every species that is in itself correct has its use, and what is commonly called style of speaking does not depend on the orator. For he will use all styles, as circumstances may demand, and the choice will be determined not only by the case as a whole, but by the demands of the different portions of the case.
3736	Nam ut non eodem modo pro reo capitis et in certamine hereditatis et de interdictis ac sponsionibus et de certa credita dicet , sententiarum quoque in senatu et contionum et privatorum consiliorum servabit discrimina , multa ex differentia personarum , locorum temporumque mutabit , ita in eadem oratione aliter concitabit , aliter conciliabit , non ex iisdem haustibus iram et misericordiam petet , alias ad docendum alias ad movendum adhibebit artes .	For just as he will not speak in the same way when he is defending a client on a capital charge and when he is speaking in a lawsuit concerned with an inheritance, or discussing interdicts and suits taking the form of a wager, or claims in connexion with loans, so too he will preserve a due distinction between the speeches which he makes in the senate, before the people and in private consultations, while he will also introduce numerous modifications to suit the different persons and circumstances of time and place. Thus in one and the same speech he will use one style for stirring the emotions, and another to conciliate his hearers; it is from different sources that he will derive anger or pity, and the art which he employs in instructing the judge will be other than that which he employs to move him.
3737	Non unus color prooemii , narrationis , argumentorum , egressionis , perorationis servabitur . Dicet idem graviter , severe , acriter , vehementer , concitate , copiose , amare , comiter , remisse , subtiliter , blande , leniter , dulciter , breviter , urbane , non ubique similis , sed ubique par sibi .	He will not maintain the same tone throughout his exordium, statement of fact, arguments, digression and peroration. He will speak gravely, severely, sharply, with vehemence, energy, fullness, bitterness, or geniality, quietly, simply, Hatteringly, gently, sweetly, briefy or wittily; he will not always be like himself, but he will never be unworthy of himself.
3738	Sic fiet cum id , propter quod maxime repertus est usus orationis , ut dicat utiliter et ad efficiendum quod intendit potenter , tum laudem quoque nec doctorum modo sed etiam vulgi consequatur .	Thus the purpose for which oratory was above all designed will be secured, that is to say, he will speak with profit and with power to effect his aim, while he will also win the praise not merely of the learned, but of the multitude as well.
3739	Falluntur enim plurimum , qui vitiosum et corruptum dicendi genus , quod aut verborum licentia exultat aut puerilibus sententiolis lascivit aut immodico tumore turgescit aut inanibus locis bacchatur aut casuris , si leviter excutiantur , flosculis nitet aut praecipitia pro sublimibus habet aut specie libertatis insanit , magis existimant populare atque plausibile . Quod quidem placere multis nec infitior nec miror .	They make the gravest mistake who consider that the style which is best adapted to win popularity and applause is a faulty and corrupt style of speaking which revels in license of diction or wantons in childish epigram or swells with stilted bombast or riots in empty commonplace or adorns itself with blossoms of eloquence which will fall to earth if but lightly shaken, or regards extravagance as sublime or raves wildly under the pretext of free speech.
3740	Est enim iucunda auribus ac favorabilis qualiscunque eloquentia et ducit animos naturali voluptate vox omnis , neque aliunde illi per fora atque aggerem circuli ; quo minus mirum est , quod nulli non agentium parata vulgi corona est .	I am ready to admit that such qualities please many, and I feel no surprise that this should be the case. For any kind of eloquence is pleasing and attractive to the car, and every effort of the voice inspires a natural pleasure in the soul of man; indeed this is the sole cause of those familiar gatherings in the Forum or on the Old Wall, so that there is small reason for wonder if any pleader is safe to draw a ring of listeners from the crowd.
3741	Ubi vero quid exquisitius dictum accidit auribus imperitorum , qualecunque id est , quod modo se ipsi posse desperent , habet admirationem , neque immerito ; nam ne illud quidem facile est . Sed evanescunt hac atque emoriuntur comparatione meliorum , ut lana tincta fuco citra purpuras placet ; at si contuleris Tyriae eam lacernae , conspectu melioris obruatur , ut Ovidius ait .	And when any unusually precious phrase strikes the ears of an uneducated audience, whatever its true merits, it wakens their admiration just for the very reason that they feel they could never have produced it themselves. And it deserves their admiration, since even such success is hard to attain. On the other hand, when such displays are compared with their betters, they sink into insignificance and fade out of sight, for they are like wool dyed red that pleases in the absence of purple, but, as Ovid says, if compared with a cloak of Tyrian dye, pales in the presence of the fairer hue.
3742	Si vero iudicium his corruptis acrius adhibeas ut fucinis sulfura , iam illum , quo fefellerant , exuant mentitum colorem et quadam vix enarrabili foeditate pallescant . Lucent igitur haec citra solem , ut quaedam exigua animalia igniculi videntur in tenebris . Denique mala multi probant , nemo improbat bona .	If, however, we test such corrupt eloquence by the touchstone of a critical taste, as, for example, we test inferior dyes with sulphur, it will lay aside the false brilliance that deceived the eye and fade to a pallor almost too repulsive to describe. Such passages shine only in the absence of the sunlight, just as certain tiny insects seem transformed in the darkness to little flames of fire. Finally, while many approve of things that are bad, no one disapproves of that which is good.
3743	Neque vero omnia ista , de quibus locuti sumus , orator optime tantum sed etiam facillime faciet . Neque enim vim summam dicendi et os admiratione dignum infelix usque ad ultimum sollicitudo persequitur , quae oratorem macerat et coquit aegre verba vertentem et perpendendis coagmentandisque eis intabescentem .	But the true orator will not merely be able to achieve all the feats of which I have spoken with supreme excellence, but with the utmost ease as well. For the sovereign power of eloquence and the voice that awakens well-deserved applause will be free from the perpetual distress of harassing anxiety which wastes and fevers the orator who painfully corrects himself and pines away over the laborious weighing and piecing together of his words.
3744	Nitidus ille et sublimis et locuples circumfluentibus undique eloquentiae copiis imperat . Desinit enim in adversa niti , qui pervenit in summum . Scandenti circa ima labor est ; ceterum quantum processeris , mollior clivus ac laetius solum .	No, our orator, brilliant, sublime and opulent of speech, is lord and master of all the resources of eloquence, whose affluence surrounds him. For he that has reached the summit has no more weary hills to scale. At first the climber's toil is hard, but the higher he mounts the easier becomes the gradient and the richer the soil.
3745	Et si haec quoque iam lenius supina perseverantibus studiis evaseris , inde fructus illaborati offerunt sese et omnia sponte proveniunt ; quae tamen cotidie nisi decerpantur , arescunt . Sed et copia habeat modum , sine quo nihil nec laudabile nec salutare est , et nitor ille cultum virilem et inventio iudicium .	And if by perseverance of study he pass even beyond these gentler slopes, fruits for which none have toiled thrust themselves upon him, and all things spring forth unbidden; and yet if they be not gathered daily, they will wither away. But even such wealth must observe the mean, without which nothing is either praiseworthy or beneficial, while brilliance must be attended by manliness, and imagination by soundness of taste.
3746	Sic erunt magna non nimia , sublimia non abrupta , fortia non temeraria , severa non tristia , gravia non tarda , laeta non luxuriosa , iucunda non dissoluta , grandia non tumida . Similis in ceteris ratio est ac tutissima fere per medium via , quia utriusque ultimum vitium est .	Thus the works of the orator will be great not extravagant, sublime not bombastic, bold not rash, severe but not gloomy, grave but not slow, rich but not luxuriant, pleasing but not effeminate, grand but not grandiose. It is the same with other qualities: the mean is safest, for the worst of all faults is to fly to extremes.
3747	His dicendi virtutibus usus orator ad iudiciis , consiliis , contionibus , senatu , ad omni denique officio boni civis finem quoque dignum et optimo viro et opere sanctissimo faciet , non quia prodesse unquam satis sit et illa mente atque illa facultate praedito non optandum operis pulcherrimi quam longissimum tempus , sed quia decet hoc quoque prospicere , ne quid peius , quam fecerit , faciat .	After employing these gifts of eloquence in the courts, in councils, in public assemblies and the debates of the senate, and, in a word, in the performance of all the duties of a good citizen, the orator will bring his activities to a close in a manner worthy of a blameless life spent in the pursuit of the noblest of professions. And he will do this, not because he can ever have enough of doing good, or because one endowed with intellect and talents such as his would not be justified in praying that such glorious labours may be prolonged to their utmost span, but for this reason, that it is his duty to look to the future, for fear that his work may be less effective than it has been in the past.
3748	Neque enim scientia modo constat orator , quae augetur annis , sed voce , latere , firmitate ; quibus fractis aut imminutis aetate seu valetudine cavendum est , ne quid ad oratore summo desideretur , ne intersistat fatigatus , ne quae dicet parum audiri sentiat , ne se quaerat priorem .	For the orator depends not merely on his knowledge, which increases with the years, but on his voice, lungs and powers of endurance. And if these be broken or impaired by age or health, he must beware that he does not fall short in something of his high reputation as a master of oratory, that fatigue does not interrupt his eloquence, that he is not brought to realise that some of his words are inaudible, or to mourn that he is not what once he was.
3749	Vidi ego longe omnium , quos mihi cognoscere contigit , summum oratorem , Domitium Afrum valde senem , cotidie aliquid ex ea quam meruerat auctoritate perdentem , cum agente illo , quem principem fuisse quondam fori non erat dubium , alii , quod indignum videatur , riderent , alii erubescerent ; quae occasio fuit de illo dicendi , malle eum deficere quam desinere .	Domitius Afer was by far the greatest of all the orators whom it has been my good fortune to know, and I saw him, when far advanced in years, daily losing something of that authority which his merits had won for him; he whose supremacy in the courts had once been universally acknowledged, now pleaded amid the unworthy laughter of some, and the silent blushes of others, giving occasion to the malicious saying that he had rather "faint than finish."
3750	Neque erant ilia qualiacunque mala sed minora . Quare antequam ad has aetatis veniat insidias , receptui canet et ad portum integra nave perveniet . Neque enim minores eum , cum id fecerit , studiorum fructus prosequentur . Aut ille monumenta rerum posteris aut , ut L . Crassus ad libris Ciceronis destinat , iura quaerentibus reddet aut eloquentiae component artem aut pulcherrimis vitae praeceptis dignum os dabit .	And yet even then, whatever his deficiencies, he spoke not badly, but merely less well. Therefore before ever he fall a prey to the ambush where time lies in wait for him, the orator should sound the retreat and seek harbour while his ship is yet intact. For the fruits of his studies will not be lessened by retirement. Either he will bequeath the history of his own times for the delight of after ages, or will interpret the law to those who seek his counsels, as Lucius Crassus proposes to do in the de Oratore of Cicero, or compose some treatise on the art of oratory, or give worthy utterance to the sublimest ideals of conduct.
3751	Frequentabunt vero eius domum optimi iuvenes more veterum et vere dicendi viam velut ex oraculo petent . Hos ille formabit quasi eloquentiae parens , et ut vetus gubernator litora et portus et quae tempestatum signa , quid secundis flatibus , quid adversis ratio poscat , docebit , non humanitatis solum communi ductus officio , sed amore quodam operis . Nemo enim minui velit id , ad quo maximus fuit .	His house will, as in the days of old, be thronged by all the best of the rising generation, who will seek to learn from him as from an oracle how they may find the path to true eloquence. And he as their father in the art will mould them to all excellence, and like some old pilot will teach them of the shores whereby their ships must sail, of the harbours where they may shelter, and the signs of the weather, and will expound to them what they shall do when the breeze is fair or the tempest blows. Whereto he will be inclined not only by the common duty of humanity, but by a certain passion for the task that once was his, since no man desires that the art wherein he was once supreme should suffer decay or diminution.
3752	Quid porro est honestius quam docere quod optime scias ? Sic ad se Caelium deductum a patre Cicero profitetur ; sic Pansam , Hirtium , Dolabellam ad morem praeceptoris exercuit cotidie dicens audiensque .	And what can be more honourable than to teach that which you know surpassing well? It was for this that the elder Caelius brought his son to Cicero, as the latter tells us, and it was with this intent that the same great orator took upon himself the duties of instructor, and trained Pansa, Hirtius and Dolabella by declaiming daily before them or hearing them declaim.
3753	Ac nescio an eum tum beatissimum credi oporteat fore , cum iam secretus et consecratus , liber invidia , procul contentionibus famam ad tuto collocarit et sentiet vivus eam , quae post fata praestari magis solet , venerationem et , quid apud posteros futurus sit , videbit .	And I know not whether we should not deem it the happiest moment in an orator's life, when he has retired from the public gaze, the consecrated priest of eloquence, free from envy and far from strife, when he has set his glory on a pinnacle beyond the reach of detraction, enjoys, while still living, that veneration which most men win but after death, and sees how great shall be his renown amid generations yet unborn.
3754	Conscius sum mihi , quantum mediocritate valui , quaeque antea scierim , quaeque operis huiusce gratia potuerim inquirere , candide me atque simpliciter ad notitiam eorum , si qui forte cognoscere voluissent , protulisse . Atque id viro bono satis est , docuisse quod scierit .	I can say with a good conscience that, as far as my poor powers have permitted, I have published frankly and disinterestedly, for the benefit of such as might wish to learn, all that my previous knowledge and the researches made for the purpose of this work might supply. And to have taught what lie knows is satisfaction enough for any good man.
3755	Vereor tamen , ne aut magna nimium videar exigere , qui eundem virum bonum esse et dicendi peritum velim , aut multa , qui tot artibus ad pueritia discendis morum quoque praecepta et scientiam iris civilis praeter ea , quae de eloquentia tradebantur , adiecerim , quique haec operi nostro necessaria esse crediderint , velut moram rei perhorrescant et desperent ante experimentum .	I fear, however, that I may be regarded as setting too lofty an ideal for the orator by insisting that he should be a good man skilled in speaking, or as imposing too many subjects of study on the learner. For in addition to the many branches of knowledge which have to be studied in boyhood and the traditional rules of eloquence, I have enjoined the study of morals and of civil law, so that I am afraid that even those who have regarded these things as essential to my theme, may he appalled at the delay which they impose and abandon all hope of achievement before they have put my precepts to the test.
3756	Qui primum renuntient sibi , quanta sit humani ingenii vis , quam potens efficiendi quae velit , cum maria transire , siderum cursus numerosque cognoscere , mundum ipsum paene dimetiri , minores , sed difficiliores artes potuerint . Tum cogitent , quantam rem petant , quamque nullus sit hoc proposito praemio labor recusandus .	I would ask them to consider how great are the powers of the mind of man and how astonishing its capacity for carrying its desires into execution: for has not man succeeded in crossing the high seas, in learning the number and the courses of the stars, and almost measuring the universe itself, all of them accomplishments of less importance than oratory, but of far greater difficulty? And then let them reflect on the greatness of' their aims and on the fact that no labour should be too huge for those that are beckoned by the hope of such reward.
3757	Quod si mente conceperint , huic quoque parti facilius accedent , ut ipsum iter neque impervium neque saltem durum putent . Nam id , quod prius quodque maius est , ut boni viri simus , voluntate maxime constat ; quam qui vera fide induerit , facile eas , quae virtutem docent , artes accipiet .	If they can only rise to the height of this conception, they will find it easier to enter on this portion of their task, and will cease to regard the road as impassable or even hard. For the first and greatest of' the aims we set before us, namely that we shall be good men, depends for its achievement mainly on the will to succeed: and he that truly and sincerely forms such resolve, will easily acquire those forms of knowledge that teach the way to virtue.
3758	Neque enim aut tam perplexa aut tam numerosa sunt quae praecipiuntur , ut non paucorum admodum annorum intentione discantur . Longam enim facit operam quod repugnamus ; brevis est institution vitae honestae beataeque , si credas . Natura enim nos ad mentem optimam genuit , adeoque discere meliora uolentibus promptum est , ut vere intuenti mirum sit illud magis malos esse tam multos .	For the precepts that are enjoined upon us are not so complex or so numerous that they may be acquired by little more than a few years' study. It is repugnance to learn that makes such labour long. For if you will only believe it, you will quickly learn the principles that shall lead you to a life of virtue and happiness. For nature brought us into the world that we might attain to all excellence of mind, and so easy is it for those to learn who seek for better things, that he who directs his gaze aright will rather marvel that the bad should be so many.
3759	Nam ut aqua piscibus , ut sicca terrenis , circumfusus nobis spiritus volucribus convenit , ita certe facilius esse oportebat secundum naturam quam contra eam vivere . Cetera vero , etiamsi aetatem nostram non spatio senectutis sed tempore adolescentiae metiamur , abunde multos ad discendum annos habent . Omnia enim breviora reddet ordo et ratio et modus .	For as water is the natural element of fish, dry land for creatures of the earth and the circumambient atmosphere for winged things, even so it should be easier to live according to nature than counter to her will. As regards other accomplishments, there are plenty of years available for their acquisition, even though we measure the life of man not by the span of age, but by the period of youth. For in every case order and method and a sense of proportion will shorten our labour.
3760	Sed culpa est ad praeceptoribus prima , qui libenter detinent quos occupaverunt , partim cupiditate diutius exigendi mercedulas , partim ambitione , quo difficilius videatur esse quod pollicentur , partim etiam inscientia tradendi vel negligentia . Proxima ad nobis , qui morari ad eo quod novimus , quam discere quae nondum scimus , melius putamus .	But the chief fault lies with our teachers, in that they love to keep back the pupils they have managed to lay their hands on, partly from the desire to draw their miserable fees for as long as possible, partly out of ostentation, to enhance the difficulty of acquiring the knowledge which they promise to impart, and to some extent owing to their ignorance or carelessness in teaching. The next most serious fault lies in ourselves, who think it better to linger over what we have learned than to learn what we do not yet know.
3761	Nam ut de nostris potissimum studiis dicam , quid attinet tam multis annis quam ad more est plurimorum ( ut de his , a quibus magna ad hoc pars aetatis absumitur , taceam ) declamitare ad schola et tantum laboris ad rebus falsis consumere , cum satis sit modico tempore imaginem veri discriminis et dicendi leges comperisse Quod non eo diro ,	For example, to restrict my remarks mainly to the study of rhetoric, what is the use of spending so many years, after the fashion now so prevalent (for I will say nothing of those who spend almost their whole lives), in declaiming in the schools and devoting so much labour to the treatment of fictitious themes, when it would be possible with but slight expenditure of time to form some idea of what the true conflicts are in which the orator must engage, and of the laws of speaking which he ought to follow?
3762	quasi sit umquam omittenda dicendi exercitatio , sed quia non ad una sit eius specie consenescendum . Res varias cognoscere et praecepta vivendi perdiscere et ad foro nos experiri potuimus , dum scholastici sumus . Discendi ratio talis , ut non multos poscat annos . Quaelibet enim ex iis artibus , quarum habui mentionem , ad paucos libros contrahi solet ; adeo non est infinito spatio ad traditionem opus . Reliqua est exercitatio , quae vires cito facit , cum fecit , tuetur .	In saying this, I do not for a moment mean to suggest that we should ever omit to exercise ourselves in speaking. I merely urge that we should not grow old over one special form of exercise. We have been in a position to acquire varied knowledge, to familiarise ourselves with the principles that should guide our life, and to try our strength in the courts, while we were still attending the schools. The theory of speaking is of such a nature that it does not demand many years for its acquisition. For any one of the various branches of knowledge which I have mentioned will, as a rule, be found to be comprised in a few volumes, a fact which shows that instruction does not require an indefinite amount of time to be devoted to it. The rest depends entirely on practice, which at once develops our powers and maintains them, once developed.