[134] ‘orationis genus habent [Stoici] fortasse subtile et certe acutum; sed, ut in oratore, exile, inusitatum, abhorrens ab auribus vulgi, obscurum, inane, ieiunum, attamen eiusmodi quo uti ad vulgus nullo modo possit’ Cic. _de Or._ iii 18, 66. [135] ‘dicebat modesta Diogenes et sobria’ A. Gellius, _N. A._ vi 14, 10. [136] See below, chap. xvi. [137] See Smiley, _Latinitas_ and Ἑλληνισμός. [138] ‘Philosophers utter words which are contrary to common opinion, as Cleanthes also said, but not words contrary to reason’ Epict. _Disc._ iv 1, 173; ‘where is the wonder if in philosophy many things which are true appear paradoxical to the inexperienced?’ _ib._ i 25, 33. [139] ‘ista παράδοξα quae appellant, maxime videntur esse Socratica’ Cic. _Parad._ Prooem. 4. [140] ‘nihil est tam incredibile, quod non dicendo fiat probabile’ Cic. _Parad._ Prooem. 3; ‘Stoica paradoxa, quorum nullum esse falsum nec tam mirabile quam prima facie videtur, adprobabo’ Sen. _Ep._ 87, 1. [141] Zeller, _Stoics_ etc., pp. 354-370. [142] A. Gellius, _N. A._ xvi 8, 16 and 17. [143] ‘quaedam exercendi tantum ingenii causa quaeruntur, et semper extra vitam iacent’ Sen. _Ben._ vi 1, 1. [144] ‘multum illis temporis verborum cavillatio eripuit et captiosae disputationes, quae acumen inritum exercent’ _Ep._ 45, 5. [145] ‘We terminate in this, in learning what is said, and in being able to expound it to another, in resolving a syllogism, and in handling the hypothetical syllogism’ Epict. _Disc._ iv 4, 14. [146] ‘Thanks [to the gods] too that, in spite of my ardour for philosophy, I did not fall into the hands of any sophist, or sit poring over essays or syllogisms, or become engrossed in scientific speculation’ M. Aurelius _To himself_ i 17. [147] ‘verum esse arbitror, ut Antiocho nostro familiari placebat, correctionem veteris Academiae potius quam aliquam novam disciplinam putandam [Stoicorum rationem]’ Cic. _Ac._ i 12, 43. [148] ‘tunc intellegere nobis licebit, quam contemnenda miremur, simillimi pueris, quibus omne ludicrum in pretio est. quid ergo inter nos et illos interest, ut Ariston ait, nisi quod nos circa tabulas et statuas insanimus, carius inepti? illos reperti in litore calculi leves delectant, nos ingentium maculae columnarum’ Sen. _Ep._ 115, 8. This tone is clearly derived from Cynism, as the reference to Aristo indicates. A modern Cynic is still more sweeping in his condemnation: ‘all the nastiness and stupidity which you call science and art’ (Count Leo Tolstoy in the _Westminster Gazette_, Sept. 3, 1910). CHAPTER VII. THE FOUNDATIONS OF PHYSICS. [Sidenote: Physics.]