§1.1.1igitur nato filio pater spem de illo primum quam optimam capiat, ita diligentior a principiis fiet.
Therefore, once a son is born, let a father from the first conceive the highest possible hope for him; in this way, he will become more diligent from the very beginning.
falsa enim est querela, paucissimis hominibus vim percipiendi, quae tradantur, esse concessam, plerosque vero laborem ac tempora tarditate ingenii perdere.
For the complaint is false that the power of perceiving what is taught has been granted to only a very few human beings, while most, indeed, waste their labor and time through dullness of intellect.
nam contra plures reperias et faciles in excogitando et ad discendum promptos.
For, on the contrary, you would find more who are both quick in thinking and prompt for learning.
quippe id est homini naturale; ac sicut aves ad volatum, equi ad cursum, ad saevitiam ferae gignuntur; ita nobis propria est mentis agitatio atque sollertia, unde origo animi caelestis creditur.
Indeed, this is natural to man; and just as birds are born for flying, horses for running, and wild beasts for ferocity, so to us, activity and sagacity of mind are peculiar, whence the origin of the soul is believed to be celestial.
§1.1.2hebetes vero et indociles non magis secundum naturam homines eduntur quam prodigiosa corpora et monstris insignia, sed hi pauci admodum fuerunt.
But those who are dull and unteachable are not produced as human beings contrary to nature any more than bodies that are deformed and marked by monstrosities; yet these have been very few indeed.
argumentum quod in pueris elucet spes plurimorum, quae cum emoritur aetate, manifestum est, non naturam defecisse sed curam.
The proof is that in children, the hope of the greatest number shines out; when this dies away with age, it is manifest that not nature but care has failed.
praestat tamen ingenio alius alium.
Nevertheless, one surpasses another in talent.
§1.1.3concedo; sed plus efficiet aut minus; nemo reperitur, qui sit studio nihil consecutus.
I admit this; but he will achieve either more or less; no one is found who has accomplished nothing by study.
hoc qui perviderit, protinus ut erit parens factus, acrem quam maxime curam spei futuri oratoris impendat.
Let him who has thoroughly perceived this, as soon as he has become a parent, bestow the most intense care possible upon the hope of the future orator.
§1.1.4ante omnia ne sit vitiosus sermo nutricibus, quas si fieri posset sapientes Chrysippus optavit, certe quantum res pateretur optimas eligi voluit.
Before all things, let there be no faulty speech in the nurses, whom Chrysippus, if it could be done, wished to be wise, but certainly desired that the best possible, as far as circumstances would permit, should be chosen.
et morum quidem in his haud dubie prior ratio est, recte tamen etiam loquantur.
And indeed, although the consideration of their morals is undoubtedly prior, yet let them also speak correctly.
§1.1.5has primum audiet puer, harum verba effingere imitando conabitur.
These the boy will hear first, and he will attempt to shape their words by imitation.
et natura tenacissimi sumus eorum, quae rudibus animis percepimus; ut sapor, quo nova imbuas, durat, nec lanarum colores, quibus simplex ille candor mutatus est, elui possunt.
And by nature we are most tenacious of those things which we have perceived with untrained minds, just as the flavor with which you imbue new vessels lasts, and the colors of wool, by which that simple white has been changed, cannot be washed out.
et haec ipsa magis pertinaciter haerent, quo deteriora sunt.
And these very things cling the more persistently the worse they are.
nam bona facile mutantur in peius; num quando in bonum verteris vitia? non assuescat ergo, ne dum infans quidem est, sermoni qui dediscendus sit.
For good things are easily changed for the worse; but when would you turn vices into good? Let him not, therefore, become accustomed, even while he is an infant, to speech that will have to be unlearned.
§1.1.6in parentibus vero quam plurimum esse eruditionis optaverim, nec de patribus tantum loquor.
In parents, indeed, I should wish there to be as much learning as possible, and I am not speaking of fathers only.
nam Gracchorum eloquentiae multum contulisse accepimus Corneliam matrem, cuius doctissimus sermo in posteros quoque est epistolis traditus: et Laelia C. filia reddidisse in loquendo paternam elegantiam dicitur, et Hortensiae Q. filiae oratio apud Triumviros habita legitur non tantum in sexus honorem.
For we have heard that Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, contributed much to their eloquence, whose highly learned speech has also been handed down to posterity in her letters; and Laelia, the daughter of Gaius, is said to have reproduced her father's elegance in speaking; and the speech of Hortensia, the daughter of Quintus, delivered before the Triumvirs, is read not only for the honor of her sex.
§1.1.7nec tamen ii, quibus discere ipsis non contigit, minorem curam docendi liberos habeant; sed sint propter hoc ipsum ad cetera magis diligentes.
Nor yet let those to whom it did not happen to learn themselves have the less care for teaching their children; but let them, on account of this very fact, be more diligent in other matters.
§1.1.8de pueris, inter quos educabitur ille huic spei destinatus, idem quod de nutricibus dictum sit.
Concerning the boys among whom he, destined for this hope, will be brought up, let the same be said as was said of the nurses.
de paedagogis hoc amplius, ut aut sint eruditi plene, quam primam esse curam velim, aut se non esse eruditos sciant.
Concerning the pedagogues, let this much more be added: that they should either be fully learned, which I would wish to be the first care, or know that they are not learned.
nihil est peius iis, qui paulum aliquid ultra primas litteras progressi falsam sibi scientiae persuasionem induerunt.
Nothing is worse than those who, having advanced only a little beyond the first letters, have assumed a false persuasion of knowledge.
nam et cedere praecipiendi partibus indignantur et velut iure quodam potestatis, quo fere hoc hominum genus intumescit, imperiosi atque interim saevientes stultitiam suam perdocent.
For they both resent yielding the office of instructing to others, and as if by a certain right of power, with which this class of men almost always swells, imperious and at times raging, they thoroughly teach their own foolishness.
§1.1.9nec minus error eorum nocet moribus; siquidem Leonides Alexandri paedagogus, ut a Babylonio Diogene traditur, quibusdam eum vitiis imbuit, quae robustum quoque et iam maximum regem ab illa institutione puerili sunt persecuta.
Nor does their error do less harm to morals; since Leonides, the pedagogue of Alexander, as is handed down by Diogenes the Babylonian, imbued him with certain vices which followed him, even when he was robust and already the greatest king, from that boyish instruction.
§1.1.10si cui multa videor exigere, cogitet oratorem institui, rem arduam, etiam cum ei formando nihil defuerit; praeterea plura ac difficiliora superesse.
If I seem to anyone to demand too many things, let him consider that an orator is being trained, a difficult task, even when nothing has been lacking for his formation; besides, more and more difficult things remain.
nam et studio perpetuo et praestantissimis praeceptoribus et plurimis disciplinis opus est.
For there is need of perpetual study, of the most excellent instructors, and of very many disciplines.
§1.1.11quapropter praecipienda sunt optima; quae si quis gravabitur, non rationi defuerint sed homini.
Wherefore, the best things must be taught; and if anyone shall find these burdensome, the failure will belong not to the method, but to the man.
si tamen non continget, quales maxime velim nutrices, pueros, paedagogos habere, at unus certe sit assiduus loquendi non imperitus, qui, si qua erunt ab his praesente alumno dicta vitiose, corrigat protinus nec insidere illi sinat; dum tamen intelligatur, id, quod prius dixi, bonum esse, hoc remedium.
If, however, it shall not happen to have such nurses, boys, and pedagogues as I would most wish, yet let there at least be one constant companion who is not unskillful in speaking, who, if any things shall be spoken faultily by them in the presence of the pupil, may correct them immediately and not allow them to settle in him; provided, however, it is understood that the former which I said is the good, and this is the remedy.
§1.1.12A sermone Graeco puerum incipere malo, quia Latinum, qui pluribus in usu est, vel nobis nolentibus perbibet, simul quia disciplinis quoque Graecis prius instituendus est, unde et nostrae fluxerunt.
I prefer the boy to begin with the Greek language, because the Latin, which is in use by more people, he will drink in even against our will, and at the same time because he must first be instructed in Greek disciplines, from which ours also flowed.