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[2]
For although the vices which are its
opposites, such as arrogance, temerity, impudence
and presumption, are all positively obnoxious, still
without constancy, confidence and courage, art, study
and proficiency will be of no avail. You might as
well put weapons into the hands of the unwarlike
and the coward. It is indeed with some reluctance,
[p. 411]
as it may give rise to misunderstanding, that I say
that even modesty (which, though a fault in itself, is
an amiable failing which may easily be the mother of
virtues) is on occasion an impediment and has
frequently caused the fruits of genius and study to
consume away in the mildew of obscurity merely
because they have never been displayed to the public
day.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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