A man who tries to surpass another may perhaps succeed in equaling in not actually surpassing him, but one who merely follows can never quite come up with him: a follower, necessarily, is always behind.
QUINTILIANA liar should have a good memory.
More Quintilian Quotes
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Without natural gifts technical rules are useless.
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One thing, however, I must premise, that without the assistance of natural capacity, rules and precepts are of no efficacy.
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It is worth while too to warn the teacher that undue severity in correcting faults is liable at times to discourage a boy’s mind from effort.
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Nothing is more dangerous to men than a sudden change of fortune.
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That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes.
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Write quickly and you will never write well; write well, and you will soon write quickly.
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If you direct your whole thought to work itself, none of the things which invade eyes or ears will reach the mind.
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God, that all-powerful Creator of nature and architect of the world, has impressed man with no character so proper to distinguish him from other animals, as by the faculty of speech.
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The gifts of nature are infinite in their variety, and mind differs from mind almost as much as body from body.
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The soul languishing in obscurity contracts a kind of rust, or abandons itself to the chimera of presumption; for it is natural for it to acquire something, even when separated from any one.
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Sayings designed to raise a laugh are generally untrue and never complimentary. Laughter is never far removed from derision.
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Fear of the future is worse than one’s present fortune.
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A liar should have a good memory.
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To swear, except when necessary, is becoming to an honorable man.
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One should aim not at being possible to understand, but at being impossible to misunderstand.
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While we are making up our minds as to when we shall begin. The opportunity is lost.
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Verse satire indeed is entirely our own.
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For all the best teachers pride themselves on having a large number of pupils and think themselves worthy of a bigger audience.
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In almost everything, experience is more valuable than precept.
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While we ponder when to begin, it becomes too late to do.
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An evil-speaker differs from an evil-doer only in the want of opportunity.
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A great part of art consists in imitation. For the whole conduct of life is based on this: that what we admire in others we want to do ourselves.
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Too exact, and studious of similitude rather than of beauty.
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A laugh costs too much when bought at the expense of virtue.
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A mediocre speech supported by all the power of delivery will be more impressive than the best speech unaccompanied by such power.
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While we are examining into everything we sometimes find truth where we least expected it.
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