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Conscience is a thousand witnesses.

Quintilian

Whilst we deliberate how to begin a thing, it grows too late to begin it.
QUINTILIAN

Beginning Deliberate Growth
Write quickly and you will never write well; write well, and you will soon write quickly.
QUINTILIAN

Poet Quick Writing Yourself
Virtue, though she gets her beginning from nature, yet receives her finishing touches from learning.
QUINTILIAN

Beginning Herself Learning Nature Touch Virtue
Those who wish to appear learned to fools, appear as fools to the learned.
QUINTILIAN

Appearance Fools Learning
We excuse our sloth under the pretext of difficulty.
QUINTILIAN

Difficult Excuse Ourselves
From writing rapidly it does not result that one writes well, but from writing well it results that one writes rapidly.
QUINTILIAN

Fast Oneself Result Writing
Though ambition may be a fault in itself, it is often the mother of virtues.
QUINTILIAN

Ambition Mistake Mom Virtue
One thing, however, I must premise, that without the assistance of natural capacity, rules and precepts are of no efficacy.
QUINTILIAN

Assistance Capacity Natural Rule
That which offends the ear will not easily gain admission to the mind.
QUINTILIAN

Admission Ear Easy Mindset Offend
While we are making up our minds as to when we shall begin. The opportunity is lost.
QUINTILIAN

Beginning Lost Mindset Opportunity Time
For all the best teachers pride themselves on having a large number of pupils and think themselves worthy of a bigger audience.
QUINTILIAN

Audience Best Big Pride Teacher Worth
In a crowd, on a journey, at a banquet even, a line of thought can itself provide its own seclusion.
QUINTILIAN

Crowd Journey Seclusion
The learned understand the reason of art; the unlearned feel the pleasure.
QUINTILIAN

Art Feeling Learning Pleasure Reason Understand
For the mind is all the easier to teach before it is set.
QUINTILIAN

Easy Mindset Teaching
Nothing can be pleasing which is not also becoming.
QUINTILIAN

Deep Please
It is the nurse that the child first hears, and her words that he will first attempt to imitate.
QUINTILIAN

Children Himself Imitation Nurse

Conscience is a thousand witnesses.

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Conscience is a thousand witnesses.

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