[131]
But even as it is, he deserves
to be read by those whose powers have been formed
and firmly moulded on the standards of a severer
taste, if only because he will exercise their critical
faculties in distinguishing between his merits and
his defects. For, as I have said, there is much in
him which we may approve, much even that we may
admire. Only we must be careful in our selection:
would he had been as careful himself. For his
genius deserved to be devoted to better aims, since
what it does actually aim at, it succeeds in achieving.
II. It is from these and other authors worthy of
our study that we must draw our stock of words, the
variety of our figures and our methods of composition,
while we must form our minds on the model of every
excellence. For there can be no doubt that in art
no small portion of our task lies in imitation, since,
although invention came first and is all-important, it
is expedient to imitate whatever has been invented
with success.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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