Kitap 3
17.7
where Homer does not say τοιαῦτα (such things as), but τόσα (as many things as). Nor should you try to find enthymemes about everything; otherwise you will be imitating certain philosophers, who draw conclusions that are better known and more plausible than the premises from which they are drawn.For this passage see 1.2.12-13. The meaning is that it is absurd to prove what every one knows already.
17.8
And whenever you wish to arouse emotion, do not use an enthymeme, for it will either drive out the emotion or it will be useless; for simultaneous movements drive each other out, the result being their mutual destruction or weakening. Nor should you look for an enthymeme at the time when you wish to give the speech an ethical character; for demonstration involves neither moral character nor moral purpose.
17.9
Moral maxims, on the other hand, should be used in both narrative and proof; for they express moral character; for instance, I gave him the money and that although I knew that one ought not to trust. Or, to arouse emotion: I do not regret it, although I have been wronged; his is the profit, mine the right.
