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[4]
On
the other hand, I am not unwilling that the man who
has got to make a speech should show signs of
nervousness when he rises to his feet, should change
colour and make it clear that he feels the risks of his
position: indeed, if these symptoms do not occur
naturally, it will be necessary to simulate them.
But the feeling that stirs us should be due to the
realisation of the magnitude of our task and not to
fear: we should be moved, but not to the extent of
collapsing. But the best remedy for such excess
of modesty is confidence: however great our natural
timidity of mien, we shall find strength and support
in the consciousness of the nobility of our task.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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