Quintilian Quotes
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Laudem virtutis necessitati damus.
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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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Sit ergo nobis orator quem constituimus is qui a M. Catone finitur vir bonus dicendi peritus, verum, id quod et ille posuit prius et ipsa natura potius ac maius est, utique vir bonus.
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When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yield.
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Pectus est enim quod disertos facit, et vis mentis.
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We must form our minds by reading deep rather than wide.
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Qui stultis videri eruditi volunt stulti eruditis videntur.
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Everything that has a beginning comes to an end.
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Our minds are like our stomaches; they are whetted by the change of their food, and variety supplies both with fresh appetite.
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Historia et scribitur ad narrandum non ad probandum.
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The mind is exercised by the variety and multiplicity of the subject matter, while the character is moulded by the contemplation of virtue and vice.
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The prosperous can not easily form a right idea of misery.
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A laugh costs too much when bought at the expense of virtue.
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Whilst we deliberate how to begin a thing, it grows too late to begin it.
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Those who wish to appear wise among fools, among the wise seem foolish.
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When we cannot hope to win, it is an advantage to yield.
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Quamlibet multa egerimus, quodam tamen modo recentes sumus ad id quod incipimus. quis non obtundi potest, si per totum diem cuiuscunque artis unum magistrum ferat? mutatione recreabitur sicut in cibis, quorum diversitate reficitur stomachus et pluribus minore fastidio alitur.
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Where evil habits are once settled, they are more easily broken than mended.
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Adeo facilius est multa facere quam diu.
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We excuse our sloth under the pretext of difficulty.
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Though ambition itself be a vice, yet it is often times the cause of virtues.
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That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes.
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To swear, except when necessary, is becoming to an honorable man.
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Mutos enim nasci et egere omni ratione satius fuisset quam providentiae munera in mutuam perniciem convertere.