[26]
For quite
apart from the fact that a wise man should always,
if possible, make whatever is best in each individual
author his own, we shall find that, in view of the
extreme difficulty of our subject, those who fix their
eyes on one model only will always find some one
quality which it is almost impossible to acquire therefrom. Consequently, since it is practically impossible
for mortal powers to produce a perfect and complete
copy of any one chosen author, we shall do well to
keep a number of different excellences before our
eyes, so that different qualities from different authors
may impress themselves on our minds, to be adopted
for use in the place that becomes them best.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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