Original text (Latin)
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.
Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.
The free-lance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.
Three sleepless nights I passed in sounding on,
Through words and things, a dim and perilous way.
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.