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Home  »  Dictionary of Quotations  »  Quintilian

James Wood, comp. Dictionary of Quotations. 1899.

Quintilian

Abundat dulcibus vitiis—He abounds in charming faults of style.

Damnant quod non intelligunt—They condemn what they do not understand.

Docti rationem artis intelligent, indocti voluptatem—The learned understand the principles of art, the unlearned feel the pleasure only.

Dum deliberamus quando incipiendum incipere jam serum est—While we are deliberating to begin, the time to begin is past.

In writing readily, it does not follow that you write well; but in writing well, you must be able to write readily.

Inanis verborum torrens—An unmeaning torrent of words.

Laudem virtutis necessitati damus—We give to necessity the praise of virtue.

Maledicus a malefico non distat nisi occasione—An evil-speaker differs from an evil-doer in nothing but want of opportunity.

Mendacem memorem esse oportet—A liar ought to have a good memory.

Minus afficit sensus fatigatio quam cogitatio—Bodily fatigue affects the mind less than intense thought.

Modeste tamen et circumspecto judicio de tantis viris pronunciandum est, ne, quod plerisque accidit, damnent quæ non intelligunt—We should, however, pronounce our opinions with modesty and circumspect judgment of such men, lest, as is the case with many, we should be found condemning what we do not understand.

Mollis educatio nervos omnes et mentis et corporis frangit—An effeminate education weakens all the powers both of mind and body.

Naufragium in portu facere—To make shipwreck in port.

Nimius in veritate, et similitudinis quam pulchritudinis amantior—Too fastidious as regards truth, and with a greater liking for exactness than beauty.

Orationis summa virtus est perspicuitas—The greatest virtue of speech is perspicuity.

Pectus est quod disertos facit—It is the heart which inspires eloquence.

Philosophia simulari potest, eloquentia non potest—Philosophy may be feigned, eloquence cannot.

Qui stultis videri eruditi volunt stulti eruditis videntur—They who wish to appear learned to fools will appear fools to learned men.

Quod commune cum alio est, desinit esse proprium—What we share with another ceases to be our own.

The learned understand the reason of the art, the unlearned feel the pleasure.

The perfection of art is to conceal art.

The way to write quickly is to write well.

Though ambition in itself is a vice, yet it is often the parent of virtues.