[20]
On the other
hand, there is much that may be thought out in
advance and we may forearm our mind against all
possible emergencies, a course which is far safer
than writing, since a train of thought can easily be
[p. 449]
abandoned or diverted in a new direction. But
whether we have to improvise a reply, or are obliged
to speak extempore by some other reason, the orator
on whom training, study and practice have conferred
the gift of facility, will never regard himself as lost
or taken at hopeless disadvantage.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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