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[4]
Of necessity, therefore, all style and
enthymemes that give us rapid information are smart. This is the reason why
superficial enthymemes, meaning those that are obvious to all and need no mental
effort, and those which, when stated, are not understood, are not popular, but
only those which are understood the moment they are stated, or those of which
the meaning, although not clear at first, comes a little later; for from the
latter a kind of knowledge results, from the former neither the one nor the
other.1
1 The meaning is: the two kinds of enthymemes mentioned last do convey some information, whereas the superficial enthymemes teach nothing, either at once, or a little later, when reflection has made the meaning clear.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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