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Write quickly and you will never write well; write well, and you will soon write quickly.

Quintilian

In a crowd, on a journey, at a banquet even, a line of thought can itself provide its own seclusion.
QUINTILIAN

Crowd Journey Seclusion
For comic writers charge Socrates with making the worse appear the better reason.
QUINTILIAN

Appearance Better Comic Reason Worst Writing
Though ambition in itself is a vice, yet it is often the parent of virtues.
QUINTILIAN

Ambition Parent Vice Virtue
It is much easier to try one’s hand at many things than to concentrate one’s powers on one thing.
QUINTILIAN

Easy Hand Oneself Power Try
There is no one who would not rather appear to know than to be taught.
QUINTILIAN

Appearance Teaching
Men, even when alone, lighten their labors by song, however rude it may be.
QUINTILIAN

Alone Light Man Rude
The learned understand the reason of art; the unlearned feel the pleasure.
QUINTILIAN

Art Feeling Learning Pleasure Reason Understand
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.
QUINTILIAN

Animal Creation Faculty God Impression Nature Powerful Talk
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.
QUINTILIAN

Courage Effort Mistake Severe Teacher Worth
Men of quality are in the wrong to undervalue, as they often do, the practise of a fair and quick hand in writing; for it is no immaterial accomplishment.
QUINTILIAN

Accomplishment Man Quality Value Wrong
One should aim not at being possible to understand, but at being impossible to misunderstand.
QUINTILIAN

Goal Perspective Possible
A mediocre speech supported by all the power of delivery will be more impressive than the best speech unaccompanied by such power.
QUINTILIAN

Accompany Average Impression Support
Conscience is a thousand witnesses.
QUINTILIAN

Conscience One Liner Perspective Spirituality
(Slaughter) means blood and iron.
QUINTILIAN

Blood Death Iron
To my mind the boy who gives least promise is one in whom the critical faculty develops in advance of the imagination.
QUINTILIAN

Criticism Development Imagination Mindset Promise
Nature herself has never attempted to effect great changes rapidly.
QUINTILIAN

Change Greatness Nature

Write quickly and you will never write well; write well, and you will soon write quickly.

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Write quickly and you will never write well; write well, and you will soon write quickly.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Quintilian Quotes