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Aristotle

Rhetoric Section 20

Section 136 of 882

Canonical reference 1.15.20

Ancient Greek

περὶ δὲ τῶν συνθηκῶν τοσαύτη τῶν λόγων χρῆσίς ἐστιν ὅσον αὔξειν ἢ καθαιρεῖν, ἢ πιστὰς ποιεῖν ἢ ἀπίστους - ἐὰν μὲν αὐτῷ ὑπάρχωσι, πιστὰς καὶ κυρίας, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ ἀμφισβητοῦντος τοὐναντίον.

English

J. H. Freese, 1926

As for contracts, argument may be used to the extent of magnifying or minimizing their importance, of proving that they do or do not deserve credit. If we have them on our side, we must try to prove them worthy of credit and authoritative; but if they are on the side of our opponent, we must do the opposite.

French AI-generated translation, non-official

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

Quant aux contrats, on peut argumenter de manière à amplifier ou à minimiser leur importance et à prouver qu'ils méritent ou ne méritent pas créance. Si nous les avons de notre côté, nous devons tenter de prouver qu'ils sont dignes de foi et font autorité ; mais s'ils sont du côté de notre adversaire, nous devons faire le contraire.

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