Train expression, not exhaustion. Seneca, Epistles 2.15.5-8
Seneca
advises Lucilius to train his mind by reading, writing, speaking, and
listening, activities which should be punctuated with rest. He also
gives advice for training the voice, telling Lucilius to practice
natural delivery rather than adopt conventional methods that favored
theatrical declamation.
Quidquid
facies, cito redi a corpore ad animum; illum noctibus ac diebus
exerce. Labore modico alitur ille; hanc exercitationem non frigus,
non aestus impediet, ne senectus quidem. Id bonum cura quod vetustate
fit melius. Neque ego te iubeo semper imminere libro aut
pugillaribus: dandum est aliquod intervallum animo, ita tamen ut non
resolvatur, sed remittatur. Gestatio et corpus concutit et studio non
officit: possis legere, possis dictare, possis loqui, possis audire,
quorum nihil ne ambulatio quidem vetat fieri.
Nec
tu intentionem vocis contempseris, quam veto te per gradus et certos
modos extollere, deinde deprimere. Quid si velis deinde quemadmodum
ambules discere? Admitte istos quos nova artificia docuit fames: erit
qui gradus tuos temperet et buccas edentis observet et in tantum
procedat in quantum audaciam eius patientia et credulitate (†)
produxeris. Quid ergo? a clamore protinus et a summa contentione
vox tua incipiet? usque eo naturale est paulatim incitari ut
litigantes quoque a sermone incipiant, ad vociferationem transeant;
nemo statim Quiritium fidem implorat. Ergo utcumque tibi impetus
animi suaserit, modo vehementius fac vicinis convicium,
modo lentius, prout vox te quoque hortabitur, in
id latus. Modesta, cum recipies illam
revocarisque, descendat, non decidat; mediatori sui habeat (*)
nec indocto et rustico more desaeviat. Non enim id agimus
ut exerceatur vox, sed ut exerceat.
Whatever
you do by way of physical training, return swiftly from the body to
the mind, which you should exercise night and day. The mind is
nourished by calm labor. Cold and heat will not impede its work, nor
will old age. Take some pains with this work, then, as it is a good
that becomes better with time. I do not bid you always to be reaching
for a book, or writing tablets. You must give the mind regular
intervals of rest: not so much rest that its focus dissolves, but
enough that it is restored. Riding is one activity that works the
body without impeding study: while you ride, you can read, dictate,
speak, and listen, and the same is true also of walking.
Nor
should you neglect to exercise your voice, though I forbid you to
practice raising and lowering it by fixed steps or intervals. What if
you should wish to practice while walking? Admit teachers whose
hunger has taught them new methods. One of them will able to govern
your modulation, observing your breath and providing an example for
you to follow until your patience and trust justify his lessons. What
is the value of this? Well, are you ever going to begin an actual
speech yelling at full volume, expressing the total extent of your
emotional register? No! It is natural to rouse oneself gradually, as
folk do in court, beginning their speech in a normal register and
passing thence to declamation. Nobody comes out swinging for the
fences, imploring the faith of the Quirites (‡) without warming up.
Follow the motion of your mind, making your speech stronger and then
softer as it urges you; the speech itself will also tell you how to
utter it. Whenever you are obliged to repeat something, let your
voice descend gradually, rather than ceasing all at once. Make the
voice its own modulator. Don't let it rage at full tilt like an
untrained peasant. The point of speaking is not to wear the voice
out, but to express it.
---
(†)
I accept patientia et credulitate from Lipsius in place of
patientiae credulitate (crudelitate) in the MSS.
(*)
I follow the MSS here rather than Madvig and Bücheler, who give
media oris via abeat.
(‡)
Romans making a public speech would end with a peroration, which
often included an emotional appeal addressing their fellow citizens
as Quirites, an ancient title explained in antiquity as originating
with the Sabines, whose union with Rome legend dated to the time of
Romulus (Livy 1.13).