I would, therefore, have a father conceive the
highest hopes of his son from the moment of his
birth. If he does so, he will be more careful about
the groundwork of his education. For there is
absolutely no foundation for the complaint that but
few men have the power to take in the knowledge
that is imparted to them, and that the majority are
so slow of understanding that education is a waste
of time and labour. On the contrary you will find
that most are quick to reason and ready to learn.
Reasoning comes as naturally to man as flying to
birds, speed to horses and ferocity to beasts of prey:
[p. 21]
our minds are endowed by nature with such activity
and sagacity that the soul is believed to proceed
from heaven.
Quintilian. With an English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1920.
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