ALL THINGS. Omnia non pariter rerum sunt omnibus apta. GOLD. iii. 13. 48. Aurum omnes victâ jam pietate colunt ; Aurum lex sequitur, mox sine lege pudor. All worship gold to the neglect of the gods; faith is broken for gold; justice is sold for gold; the law follows gold, and ere long shamelessness will be without bounds. QUINTILIANUS Proœmium i. 2. Oratorem autem instituimus illum perfectum, qui esse nisi vir bonus non potest. Now, according to my definition, no man can be a complete orator unless he is a good man. GENIUS. Proæmium i. 4. Illud tamen in primis testandum est, nihil præcepta atque artes valere nisi adjuvante naturâ. One thing, however, I must premise, that without the assistance of natural capacity, rules and precepts are of no efficacy. SAGACITY. Sicut aves ad volatum, equi ad cursum, ad sævitiam feræ gignuntur; ita nobis propria est mentis agitatio atque solertia, unde origo animi cælestis creditur. As birds are provided by nature with a propensity to fly, horses to run, and wild beasts to be savage, so the working and the sagacity of the brain is peculiar to man; and hence it is that his mind is supposed to be of divine original. THE DULL. Lib. i. 1. Hebetes vero et indociles non magis secundum naturam hominis eduntur, quam prodigiosa corpora et monstris insignia; sed hi pauci admodum. The dull and the indocile are in no other sense the productions of nature than are monstrous shapes and extraordinary objects, which are very rare. YOUTH TENACIOUS OF WHAT IT IMBIBES. Lib. i. 2. Naturâ tenacissimi sumus eorum quæ rudibus annis percipimus; ut sapor, quo nova imbuas, durat: nec lanarum colores, quibus simplex ille candor mutatus est, elui possunt. By nature we are very tenacious of what we imbibe in the dawn of life, in the same manner as new vessels retain the flavour which they first drink in. There is no recovering wool to its native whiteness after it is dyed. SMATTERERS. Nihil enim pejus est iis, qui, paulum aliquid ultra primas literas progressi, falsam sibi scientiæ persuasionem induerunt. For nothing is more nauseous than men who, having got just a smattering in advanced learning, vainly persuade themselves that they are men of knowledge. HANDWRITING. Non est aliena res, quæ fere ab honestis negligi solet, cura bene ac velociter scribendi. Men of quality are in the wrong to undervalue, as they often do, the practice of a fair and quick hand in writing; for it is no immaterial accomplishment. THE SCHOOLMASTER. Lib. i. 2. 1. Nec sane quisquam literis saltem leviter imbutus, eum in quo studium ingeniumque perspexerit, non in suam quoque gloriam peculiariter fovebit. A master, let him have but a moderate tincture of learning, will for his own credit cherish application and genius, wherever he finds them. AMBITION. Licet ipsa vitium sit ambitio, frequenter tamen causa virtutum est. Though ambition in itself is a vice, yet it is often the parent of virtues. MIMICRY. Non dabit mihi spem bonæ indolis, qui hoc imitandi studio petet, ut rideatur. I have no great opinion of any boy's capacity, whose whole aim is to raise a laugh by his talent of mimicry. PREMATURITY OF GENIUS. i. 3. 1. Illud ingeniorum velut præcox genus, non temere unquam pervenit ad frugem. It seldom happens that a premature shoot of genius ever arrives at maturity. A BOY OF GENIUS. i. 3. 2. Mihi ille detur puer, quem laus excitet, quem gloria juvet, qui victus fleat. Hic erit alendus ambitu, hunc mordebit objurgatio, hunc honor excitabit: in hoc desidiam nunquam verebor. Give me the boy who rouses when he is praised, who profits when he is encouraged, and who cries when he is defeated. Such a boy will be fired by ambition; he will be stung by reproach, and animated by preference: never shall I apprehend any bad consequences from idleness in such a boy. EVIL HABITS. i. 3. 3. Frangas enim citius quam corrigas, quæ in pravum induruerunt. For evil habits, when they once settle, are more easily broken than mended. CUSTOM. Consuetudo vero, certissima loquendi magistra: utendumque plane sermone, ut nummo, cui publica forma est. The common usage of learned men, however, is the surest director of speaking; and language, like money, when it receives the public stamp, ought to have currency. USAGE OF LANGUAGE. i. 4. 3. Ergo consuetudinem sermonis, vocabo consensum eruditorum; sicut vivendi, consensum bonorum. I therefore look upon the general practice of the learned to be the usage of language, in like manner as the general practice of the virtuous is to be considered as the usage of life. MUSIC. i. 8. 1. Etiam singulorum fatigatio quamlibet se rudi modulatione solatur. For every man, when at work, even by himself, has his own song, however rude it may be, that softens his labour. THE ILLITERATE. i. 8. 1. Denique in proverbium usque Græcorum celebratum est, indoctos a musis atque gratiis abesse. In short, it has become a proverb amongst the Greeks, that the illiterate has no acquaintance with the muses and the graces. THE MIND. Mens mutatione recreabitur: sicut in cibis, quorum diversitate reficitur stomachus, et pluribus minore fastidio alitur. Our minds are like our stomachs; they are whetted by the change of their food, and variety supplies both with fresh appetite. ELOQUENCE. Qui vero imaginem ipsam eloquentiæ divinâ quadam mente conceperit, quique illam (ut ait non ignobilis tragicus) reginam rerum orationem ponet ante oculos, fructumque non ex stipe advocationum, sed ex animo suo et contemplatione ac scientiâ petet, perpetuum illum nec fortunæ subjectum. But give me the reader who figures in his mind the idea of Eloquence, all divine as she is, who, with Euripides, gazes upon her all-subduing charms; who seeks not his reward from the venal fee for his voice, but from that reflection, that imagination, that perfection of mind, which time cannot destroy, nor fortune affect. EXPERIENCE. Nam in omnibus fere minus valent præcepta quam experimenta. For in almost every art, experience is more serviceable than precepts. SPEECH. ii. 17. 2. Deus ille princeps, parens rerum fabricatorque mundi, nullo magis hominem separavit a ceteris, quæ quidem mortalia sunt, animalibus, quam dicendi facultate. 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. A JEST. vi. 3. 5. Ludere nunquam velimus, longeque absit propositum illud: potius amicum quam dictum perdidi. Let all malice be removed, and let us never adopt that maxim, Rather to lose our friend than our jest. A LAUGH. vi. 3. 5. Nimium risus pretium est, si probitatis impendio constat. A laugh is too dearly bought, when purchased at the expense of virtue. |