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Aristotle

Rhetoric Section 2

Section 74 of 882

Canonical reference 1.12.2

Ancient Greek

ποῖα μὲν οὖν δυνατὰ φαίνεται καὶ ποῖα ἀδύνατα, ἐν τοῖς ὕστερον ῥηθήσεται (κοινὰ γὰρ ταῦτα πάντων τῶν λόγων)· αὐτοὶ δʼ οἴονται δυνατοὶ εἶναι μάλιστα ἀζήμιοι ἀδικεῖν οἱ εἰπεῖν δυνάμενοι καὶ οἱ πρακτικοὶ καὶ οἱ ἔμπειροι πολλῶν ἀγώνων, κἂν πολύφιλοι ὦσιν, κἂν πλούσιοι.

English

J. H. Freese, 1926

As for the kind of things which seem possible or impossible, we will discuss them later, for these topics are common to all kinds of rhetoric. Now men who commit wrong think they are most likely to be able to do so with impunity, if they are eloquent, business-like, experienced in judicial trials, if they have many friends, and if they are wealthy.

French AI-generated translation, non-official

Codex gpt-5.6-sol · Non-official working translation · 2026-09-13

Quant aux sortes de choses qui paraissent possibles ou impossibles, nous en discuterons plus tard, car ces lieux sont communs à tous les genres de rhétorique. Or les hommes qui commettent une injustice pensent qu'ils ont le plus de chances de pouvoir le faire impunément s'ils sont éloquents, habiles en affaires, expérimentés dans les procès, s'ils ont beaucoup d'amis et s'ils sont riches.

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