M. FABIUS QUINTILIAN

INSTITUTIO ORATORIA

BOOK X

I. But these rules of eloquence, though necessary for planning, are not in themselves enough to provide the power of speaking unless a certain firm facility—which the Greeks call hexis (a trained habit or proficiency)—is added. I know it is a common question whether this is better acquired by writing, reading, or speaking. This would be a question worth our careful examination if we could be content with only one of these things.
2 Yet they are so connected and inseparable that if any one of them is neglected, the labor spent on the others is in vain. For eloquence will never be solid or robust unless it has received strength from much writing, and that labor, lacking the guidance of reading, will drift aimlessly. Furthermore, he who 1 knows what should be said and how, unless he has eloquence ready for action and prepared for all situations, will be like a miser brooding over his hoarded treasure.
3 It is not, however, as if everything is equally necessary...

1 "fluitabit et qui" (Halm): "fluvit autem qui" in the manuscript.