Rhetoric

​Concerning the speaking in maxims, once it is stated what a maxim is, it would become most clear concerning what kinds of things, when, and for whom it is appropriate to use speaking in maxims in speeches.

​A maxim is indeed an assertion, not however about particulars—for instance, what kind of person Iphicrates is—but about the universal; yet not about all universals—for instance, that the straight is contrary to the curved—but about those things which actions are concerned with, and which are to be chosen or avoided in respect of acting. Therefore, since the enthymeme is a syllogism concerning such things, the conclusions and premises of enthymemes, when the syllogism is removed, are virtually maxims. For instance: “A man who is of sound mind by nature ought never to have his children educated to be excessively wise.” This, then, is a maxim; but when the cause and the reason why are added, the whole becomes an enthymeme. For instance: “For besides the other idleness they possess, they win hostile envy from the citizens.” And this: “There is no man who is happy in all things,” and this: “There is no one of men who is free” are maxims, but when added to what follows, it is an enthymeme: “For he is a slave either to money or to fortune.”

​If, then, a maxim is what has been said, it is necessary that there are four species of maxims; for it will either be with an epilogue or without an epilogue.

​Those that need proof are as many as say something paradoxical or disputed; but those that say nothing paradoxical are without an epilogue.

​Of these, it is necessary that some, because they are already known, need no epilogue, for instance: “For a man to be healthy is best, at least so it seems to me” (for it appears so to the majority), and others, at the same time they are spoken, are clear to those who look closely, for instance: “No one is a lover who does not love always.”

​Of those with an epilogue, some are a part of an enthymeme, just like: “A man who is of sound mind ought never...” while others are enthymematic indeed, but not a part of an enthymeme; which indeed are most highly esteemed. These are those in which the cause of what is said is made manifest within them, for instance in: “Do not, being mortal, nurse an immortal wrath.” For to say ”one ought not to nurse [it]” is a maxim, but the addition “being mortal” is the reason why. And similarly also: “A mortal should think mortal thoughts, not a mortal immortal thoughts.”

​It is clear, then, from what has been said, how many species of maxim there are, and to what kind of subject each is appropriate. For concerning disputed or paradoxical things, [they should] not [be used] without an epilogue, but either, having put the epilogue first, one should use the conclusion as a maxim (for instance, if one should say, “I, then, since one ought neither to be envied nor to be idle, say that one should not be educated”), or, having said this first, one should add the former things. But concerning those that are not paradoxical but are unclear, [one should use them] adding the reason why in the most concise way.

​And in such cases, Laconian apophthegms and riddles are also appropriate, for instance, if someone says what Stesichorus said among the Locrians, that “they must not be insolent, lest the cicadas sing from the ground.”