[24]
But it requires no less careful study to maintain
than to acquire this facility. Theory once mastered
is not forgotten, and the pen loses but little of its
speed by disuse: but this promptitude and readiness
for action can be maintained by practice only. The
best form of exercise is to speak daily before an
audience of several persons, who should, as far as
possible, be selected from those whose judgement
and good opinion we value, since it is rare for anyone to be sufficiently critical of himself. It is even
better to speak alone than not at all.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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