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Quotes from Praise of Eloquence — Philip Melanchthon

1497–1560 Germany

← All quotes by Philip Melanchthon

7 quotes

The shadow does not follow the body more closely than eloquence accompanies sagacity.

Praise of Eloquence (1523)

What do you believe was on the mind of the ancient Romans that they called the arts of speaking humanity? They judged that, indisputably, by the study of these disciplines not only was the tongue refined, but also the wildness and barbarity of people’s minds was amended.

Praise of Eloquence (1523)

Sagacity and eloquence are linked together to such an extent that they cannot be torn asunder for any reason.

Praise of Eloquence (1523)

How miserable is the condition of men when the better a thing is, the further it recedes from our sight and the less it is recognized.

Praise of Eloquence (1523)

No one will be able to speak suitably and clearly about anything unless he has shaped his speech by some art, by imitation of the best.

Praise of Eloquence (1523)

It does not make such a difference whether you are simply mute or employ no art for speaking. For it is not feasible that you can express what you think as it should be understood unless you acquire and strengthen the ability to speak by art.

Praise of Eloquence (1523)

You can see for what reason I commend the study of eloquence to you—because we can neither explain what we ourselves want, nor understand the surviving writing written by our ancestors, unless we have thoroughly studied a fixed rule for speaking. For my part, I do not see how there could be others who wish neither to explain what they think, nor to understand what is excellently said.

Praise of Eloquence (1523)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Philip Melanchthon (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.