Institutio Oratoria

Quintilian

Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, translator. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.

A change in the tactics of defence is also often selected for censure. For example, Attius [*](pro Cluent. Iii. ) in his speech against Cluentius complains that Cicero insists on the letter of the law, and Aeschines [*]( Aesch. in Ctes. § 206. cp. also III. vi. 3. ) in his speech against Ctesiphon complains that Demosthenes refuses to consider the legal aspect of the case. It is however necessary to issue a special warning to declaimers that they should not put forward objections that can easily be met or assume that their opponent is a fool. As it is, owing to our tendency to think that the subject-matter of our speech may be drawn from our own fancy, florid commonplaces and epigrams designed to bring down the house occur to our minds with the utmost

v4-6 p.339
readiness, with the result that we should do well to bear in mind the lines:
  1. A shrewd retort! Could it be otherwise?
  2. A foolish question makes for smart replies.
Origin unknown.