Old men are garrulous by nature. Nothing quite new is perfect. Old age: the crown of life, our play's last act. The aim of forensic oratory is to teach, to delight, to move. Socrates was the first to call philosophy down from the heavens and to place it in cities, and even to introduce it into homes and compel it to inquire about life and standards and goods and evils. History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us tidings of antiquity. The first law for the historian is that he shall never dare utter an untruth. The second is that he shall suppress nothing that is true. Moreover, there shall be no suspicion of partiality in his writing, or of malice. For just as some women are said to be handsome though without adornment, so this subtle manner of speech, though lacking in artificial graces, delights us. To be ignorant of what happened before you were born is to be ever a child. For what is man's lifetime unless the memory of past events is woven with those of earlier times? A home without books is a body without soul. | 
