[23]
There is a further fault to which those persons
are liable who devote themselves entirely to the
imitation of one particular style: if the rude vigour
of some particular author takes their fancy, they
cling to it even when the case on which they are
engaged calls for an easy and flowing style; if, on
the other hand, it is a simple or agreeable style that
claims their devotion, they fail to meet the heavy
demands of severe and weighty cases. For not only
do cases differ in their general aspect, but one part
of a case may differ from another, and some things
require a gentle and others a violent style, some
require an impetuous and others a calm diction, while
in some cases it is necessary to instruct and in others
to move the audience, in all these instances dissimilar and different methods being necessary.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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