[27]
addition, omission, and the order of words, serve to
attract the attention of the audience and do not
allow it to flag, rousing it from time to time by some
specially striking figure, while they derive something
of their charm from their very resemblance to
blemishes, just as a trace of bitterness in food will
sometimes tickle the palate. But this result will
only be obtained if figures are not excessive in
number nor all of the same type or combined or
closely packed, since economy in their use, no less
than variety, will prevent the hearer being surfeited.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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