[31]
Eloquence therefore must not restrict
itself to narrow tracks, but range at large over the
open fields. Its streams must not be conveyed
[p. 367]
through narrow pipes like the water of fountains,
but flow as mighty rivers flow, filling whole valleys;
and if it cannot find a channel it must make one
for itself. For what can be more distressing than
to be fettered by petty rules, like children who
trace the letters of the alphabet which others have
first written for them, or, as the Greeks say, insist
on keeping the coat their mother gave them.1
Are we to have nothing but premises and conclusions from consequents and incompatibles? Must
not the orator breathe life into the argument and
develop it?
1 The proverb which is also found in Plutarch (de Alex. Fort. i. 330 B) seems to refer to a child's passionate fondness for some particular garment.
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.