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For it had been better for men to be born dumb and devoid of reason than to turn the gifts of providence to their mutual destruction.

Mutos enim nasci et egere omni ratione satius fuisset quam providentiae munera in mutuam perniciem convertere.

Original text (Latin)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Book XII, Chapter I, 2; translation by H. E. Butler

More quotes by Quintilian

Too exact, and rather studious of similitude than of beauty.

For it is feeling and force of imagination that makes us eloquent.

Nothing is more dangerous to men than a sudden change of fortune.

It is fitting that a liar should be a man of good memory.

The perfection of art is to conceal art.

In Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Quintilian (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.