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[4]
The orator persuades by moral character when his
speech is delivered in such a manner as to render him worthy of confidence; for
we feel confidence in a greater degree and more readily in persons of worth in
regard to everything in general, but where there is no certainty and there is
room for doubt, our confidence is absolute. But this confidence must be due to
the speech itself, not to any preconceived idea of the speaker's character; for
it is not the case, as some writers of rhetorical treatises lay down in their
“Art,” that the worth of the orator in no way contributes to
his powers of persuasion; on the contrary, moral character, so to say,
constitutes the most effective means of proof.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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