I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts.
I am no orator, as Brutus is,
But read more

I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts.
I am no orator, as Brutus is,
But (as you know me all) a plain blunt man
That love my friend; and that they know full well
That gave me public leave to speak of him.

Glittering generalities! They are blazing ubiquities.

Glittering generalities! They are blazing ubiquities.

There is no true orator who is not a hero.

There is no true orator who is not a hero.

You'd scarce expect one of my age
To speak in public on the stage;
And if I read more

You'd scarce expect one of my age
To speak in public on the stage;
And if I chance to fall below
Demosthenes or Cicero,
Don't view me with a critic's eye,
But pass my imperfections by.
Large streams from little fountains flow,
Tall oaks from little acorns grow.

The capital of the orator is in the bank of the highest
sentimentalities and the purest enthusiasms.

The capital of the orator is in the bank of the highest
sentimentalities and the purest enthusiasms.

The object of oratory alone is not truth, but persuasion.

The object of oratory alone is not truth, but persuasion.

Fire in each eye, and papers in each hand,
They rave, recite, and madden round the land.

Fire in each eye, and papers in each hand,
They rave, recite, and madden round the land.

He mouths a sentence as curs mouth a bone.

He mouths a sentence as curs mouth a bone.

For rhetoric, he could not ope
His mouth, but out there flew a trope.

For rhetoric, he could not ope
His mouth, but out there flew a trope.