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When our orator has developed his strength
to such a pitch that it is equal to every kind of confact in which he may be called upon to bear his part,
his first consideration should be to exercise care in
the choice of the cases which he proposes to undertake. A good man will undoubtedly prefer defence
to prosecution, but he will not have such a rooted
objection to the task of accuser as to disregard his
duty towards the state or towards individuals and
refuse to call any man to render an account of his
way of life. For the laws themselves would be
powerless without the assistance of advocates equal
to the task of supporting them; and to regard it as a
sin to demand the punishment of crime is almost equivalent to the sanctioning of crime, while it is certainly
contrary to the interest of the good to give the
wicked free leave to work their will.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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