Socrates: The fact is, as we said at the beginning of our discussion, that the aspiring speaker needs no knowledge of the truth about what is right or good In courts of justice no attention is paid whatever to the truth about such topics; all that matters is plausibility There are even some occasions when both prosecution and defence should positively suppress the facts in favor of probability, if the facts are improbable. Never mind the truth — pursue probability through thick and thin in every kind of speech; the whole secret of the art of speaking lies in consistent adherence to this principle.

Phaedrus: That is what those who claim to be professional teachers of rhetoric actually say, Socrates. Let us go forth to lead the land we love. J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural Viri validis cum viribus luctant. Ennius Veni, vidi, vici. Julius Caesar Agreements entered into when one state of facts exists — are they to be maintained regardless of changing conditions? J. Diefenbaker Men in great place are thrice servants: servants of the sovereign or state; servants of fame; and servants of business. Francis Bacon Senatus haec intellegit, consul videt; hic tamen vivit. Vivit? Immo vero etiam in senatum venit. Cicero, In Catilinam We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. Churchill. Nihil agis, nihil moliris, nihil cogitas, quod non ego non modo audiam, sed etiam videam planeque sentiam. Cicero, In Catilinam Lysias, Demosthenes, The helmsman steered; the ship moved on; yet never a breeze up blew. Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Isdem in oppidis, Cicero Demosthenes, In 1931, ten years ago, Japan invaded Manchukuo — without warning. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia — without warning. In 1938, Hitler occupied Austria — without warning. In 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia — without warning. Later in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland — without warning. And now Japan has attacked Malaya and Thailand — and the United States — without warning. Franklin D. Roosevelt Aeschines, Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Barry Goldwater Brutus: Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar The vases of the classical period are but the reflection of classical beauty; the vases of the archaic period are beauty itself." Sir John Beazley Demosthenes, Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do?' Demosthenes, Demosthenes, For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel.
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar Pipit sate upright in her chair
Some distance from where I was sitting; T. S. Eliot, "A Cooking Egg" Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. O fortunatam natam me consule Romam! Cicero, de consulatu We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardships, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. Lincoln, Gettysburg Address Demosthenes, Aeolus haec contra: Vergil, Aeneid Non Cinnae, non Sullae longa dominatio. Tacitus, Annales I.1 We want no parlay with you and your grisly gang who work your wicked will. Churchill O Tite tute Tati tibi tanta tyranne tulisti! Ennius I listen vainly, but with thirsty ear. MacArthur, Farewell Address Cynthia prima suis miserum me cepit ocellis. Propertius I.1.1 Those gallant men will remain often in my thoughts and in my prayers always. MacArthur Renown'd for conquest, and in council skill'd. Addison et pacis ornamenta et subsidia belli. Cicero, Pro lege Manilia Plato, One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. Tennyson, Ulysses Nonne hunc in vincula duci, non ad mortem rapi, non summo supplicio mactari imperabis? Cicero, In Catilinam Facinus est vincere civem Romanum; scelus verberare; prope parricidium necare: quid dicam in crucem tollere? verbo satis digno tam nefaria res appellari nullo modo potest. Cicero, In Verrem Demosthenes, When the final news came, there would be a ring at the front door — a wife in this situation finds herself staring at the front door as if she no longer owns it or controls it — and outside the door would be a man come to inform her that unfortunately something has happened out there, and her husband's body now lies incinerated in the swamps or the pines or the palmetto grass, "burned beyond recognition," which anyone who had been around an air base very long (fortunately Jane had not) realized was quite an artful euphemism to describe a human body that now looked like an enormous fowl that has burned up in a stove, burned a blackish brown all over, greasy and blistered, fried, in a word, with not only the entire face and all the hair and the ears burned off, not to mention all the clothing, but also the hands and feet, with what remains of the arms and legs bent at the knees and elbows and burned into absolutely rigid angles, burned a greasy blackish brown like the bursting body itself, so that this husband, father, officer, gentleman, this ornamentum of some mother's eye, His Majesty the Baby of just twenty-odd years back, has been reduced to a charred hulk with wings and shanks sticking out of it. Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff It sure is nice and cool today! (for "pleasantly cool") I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Psalms 116 Perfecti oratoris moderatione et sapientia. Cicero, De oratore Exegi monumentum aere perennius
regalique situ pyramidum altius, Horace, Odes III.30 Speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem Vergil, Aeneid 4.124, 165 My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow;
An hundred years should got to praise
Thine eyes and on thine forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest.
Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress" Da mi basia mille, deinde centum,
Dein mille altera, dein secunda centum,
Deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum.
Catullus, to his. "I like the island Manhattan. Smoke on your pipe and put that in." — from the song "America," West Side Story lyric by Stephen Sondheim (submitted per litteram by guest rhetorician ) Put on your shoes and socks! Hannibal in Africam redire atque Italia decedere coactus est. Cicero, In Catilinam Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar A few unannounced quizzes are not inconceivable. War is not healthy for children and other living things. One nuclear bomb can ruin your whole day. (meiosis) Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage. Shakespeare, Macbeth . . . while he learned the language (that meager and fragile thread . . . by which the little surface corners and edges of men's secret and solitary lives may be joined for an instant now and then before sinking back into the darkness. . . ) Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom! From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. Churchill He is a man of the cloth. The pen is mightier than the sword. By the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat thy bread. At tuba terribili sonitu taratantara dixit. Ennius Festina lente. I must be cruel only to be kind. Shakespeare, Hamlet What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young. George Bernard Shaw He was at his best when the going was good. Alistair Cooke on the Duke of Windsor There but for the grace of God — goes God. Churchill Laudandus, ornandus, tollendus. Cicero on Octavian culled cash, or cold cash, and then it turned into a gold cache. E.L. Doctorow, Billy Bathgate Thou art Peter (Greek petros), and upon this rock (Greek petra) I shall build my church. Matthew 16 The dying Mercutio: Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man. Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Hic est sepulcrum haud pulchrum feminae pulchrae. England expects every man to do his duty. Lord Nelson Nunc te patria, quae communis est parens omnium nostrum, odit ac metuit et iam diu nihil te iudicat nisi de parricidio suo cogitare. Cicero, In Catilinam No one, rich or poor, will be excepted. Ears pierced while you wait! I have seen no stranger sight since I was born. I said, "Who killed him?" and he said, "I don't know who killed him but he's dead all right," and it was dark and there was water standing in the street and no lights and windows broke and boats all up in the town and trees blown down and everything all blown and I got a skiff and went out and found my boat where I had her inside Mango Bay and she was all right only she was full of water. Hemingway, After the Storm omnia Mercurio similis, vocemque coloremque
et crinis flavos et membra decora iuventae Vergil, Aeneid 4.558-9 Horae quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur, nec quid sequatur sciri potest. Cicero, De senectute That part of our history detailing the military achievements which gave us our several possessions is a theme too familiar to my listeners for me to dilate on, and I shall therefore pass it by. Thucydides, "Funeral Oration" Let us make no judgment on the events of Chappaquiddick, since the facts are not yet all in. A political opponent of Senator Edward Kennedy Vixi et quem dederat cursum fortuna peregi, Vergil, Aeneid 4.653 Consider the lilies of the field how they grow. My love is as a fever, longing still
For that which longer nurseth the disease, Shakespeare, Sonnet CXLVII Reason is to faith as the eye to the telescope. D. Hume [?] Let us go then, you and I,
While the evening is spread out against the sky,
Like a patient etherized upon a table T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock We must all hang together or assuredly we will all hang separately. Benjamin Franklin aurea purpuream subnectit fibula vestem Vergil, Aeneid 4.139 Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6 I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
T. S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" The U.S. won three gold medals. (Instead of, The members of the U.S. boxing team won three gold medals.) For the wages of sin is death. Romans 6 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. Acts 6 With malice toward none, with charity for all. Lincoln, Second Inaugural Nor Mars his sword, nor war's quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory. Longa tibi exsilia et vastum maris aequor arandum. Vergil, Aeneid Reprinted from the website. "This glossary came to us from our late colleague Ross Scaife, who encountered it during his graduate studies at the University of Texas. Chris Renaud gave it to him, stating that it originated with Ernest Ament of Wayne State University. Ross, in turn, added some additional examples."