[73]
A different situation arises,
[p. 199]
but an easier one, when we have to praise the actions
of men who are otherwise disreputable or hateful to
ourselves: for it is only right that we should award
praise where it is deserved, whatever the character
of the person praised may be. Cicero spoke in
defence of Gabinius and Publius Vatinius, both of
them his deadly enemies and men against whom
he had previously spoken and even published his
speeches: but he justifies himself by declaring that
he does so not because he is anxious for his reputation as an accomplished speaker, but because he is
concerned for his honour.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.