Quintilian
Quintilian
Marcus Fabius Quintilianuswas a Roman rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quintilian, although the alternate spellings of Quintillian and Quinctilian are occasionally seen, the latter in older texts...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionEducator
ambition boys giving
Give me the boy who rouses when he is praised, who profits when he is encouraged and who cries when he is defeated. Such a boy will be fired by ambition; he will be stung by reproach, and animated by preference; never shall I apprehend any bad consequences from idleness in such a boy.
education children stupid
Minds that are stupid and incapable of science are in the order of nature to be regarded as monsters and other extraordinary phenomena; minds of this sort are rare. Hence I conclude that there are great resources to be found in children, which are suffered to vanish with their years. It is evident, therefore, that it is not of nature, but of our own negligence, we ought to complain.
art reason pleasure
The learned understand the reason of art; the unlearned feel the pleasure.
character mind matter
The mind is exercised by the variety and multiplicity of the subject matter, while the character is moulded by the contemplation of virtue and vice.
men should-have dumb
For it would have been better that man should have been born dumb, nay, void of all reason, rather than that he should employ the gifts of Providence to the destruction of his neighbor.
pride taught knows
There is no one who would not rather appear to know than to be taught.
art want life-is
A great part of art consists in imitation. For the whole conduct of life is based on this: that what we admire in others we want to do ourselves.
mind body infinite
The gifts of nature are infinite in their variety, and mind differs from mind almost as much as body from body.
father pregnancy parent
As regards parents, I should like to see them as highly educated as possible, and I do not restrict this remark to fathers alone.
life food mind
Our minds are like our stomaches; they are whetted by the change of their food, and variety supplies both with fresh appetite.
art perfection art-is
The perfection of art is to conceal art.
ends
Everything that has a beginning comes to an end.
training speech impressive
A mediocre speech supported by all the power of delivery will be more impressive than the best speech unaccompanied by such power.
heart inspire eloquence
It is the heart which inspires eloquence.