Attic Nights, Vol. II

omnis fallunt. 5 You, when you think they are removed from these matters, bestow good reputation upon them; however, embassies from kings, 6 when they think they are keeping silent for their own sake, provide them with the greatest expenses and money, just as in the land of Greece, at the time when the Greek tragic actor considered it a glory to himself that a great talent original: "talentum magnum"; a large sum of money had been given for a single play, Demades, the most eloquent man of his city, is said to have replied to him: ‘Does it seem strange to you if you earned a talent by speaking? I received ten talents from a king to keep silent.’ Likewise, now those men receive the greatest prices for remaining silent.

XI

15 The words of P. Nigidius, in which he says that "to lie" mentiri and "to tell a lie" mendacium dicere differ.

The actual words of P. Nigidius are these, a man 1 excelling in the study of the liberal arts, whom M. Cicero highly revered for his talent and learning original: "fr. 49 Sw.": Fragment 49, Swoboda's collection: "There is a difference between telling a lie and lying. He who lies mentitur is not deceived himself, but tries to deceive another; he who tells a lie mendacium dicit is himself deceived." He also added this: "He who lies," he says, "deceives, as far as it is in his power; but he who tells a lie does not deceive, as far as it is in his power." He also says this about the same matter: "A good man," he says, "ought to ensure he does not lie, and a prudent one, that he does not tell a lie; the former falls into the man, the latter..."