[37]
On the other hand
there are some who surfer from excess of zeal,
and think it their duty to reply to every word
and even every trifling reflexion, a task which is
at once endless and superfluous. For it is not the
case. but the pleader, whom they are refuting. Personally I should always prefer that a speaker should
reveal his eloquence in such a way that, if what he
says advances his case, the credit will be given to his
talent and not to the nature of his case, while if
what he says damages his case the blame will attach
to the case and not to his powers.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1921.
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