[114]
Everyone, therefore, should make a proper
estimate of his own natural ability and show himself a critical judge of his own merits and defects;
in this respect we should not let actors display
more practical wisdom than we have. They select,
not the best plays, but the ones best suited to their
talents. Those who rely most upon the quality of
their voice take the Epigoni and the Medus; those
who place more stress upon the action choose the
Melanippa and the Clytaemnestra; Rupilius, whom
I remember, always played in the Antiope, Aesopus
rarely in the Ajax. Shall a player have regard to
this in choosing his role upon the stage, and a wise
man fail to do so in selecting his part in life?
We shall, therefore, work to the best advantage
in that rôle to which we are best adapted. But
if at some time stress of circumstances shall thrust
us aside into some uncongenial part, we must devote
to it all possible thought, practice, and pains, that
we may be able to perform it, if not with propriety,
at least with as little impropriety as possible; and
we need not strive so hard to attain to points of
excellence that have not been vouchsafed to us as
to correct the faults we have.
M. Tullius Cicero. De Officiis. With An English Translation. Walter Miller. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1913.
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