"Our minds are like our stomaches; they are whetted by the change of their food, and variety supplies both with fresh appetite"
About this Quote
Quintilian reaches for the body to discipline the mind, and the metaphor lands because it’s unapologetically practical. “Stomaches” (misspelled here, but tellingly earthy) drags lofty talk about intellect down to appetite, digestion, and boredom. He’s not praising novelty as a lifestyle brand; he’s prescribing variation as a pedagogical technology. If the mind is an organ, then attention is a kind of hunger: it can be dulled by the same meal repeated, then revived by a change in flavor.
The intent is quietly corrective. Roman education prized rigor, imitation, and repetition; the future orator was drilled on models until style became muscle memory. Quintilian doesn’t reject discipline, but he warns that monotony can turn learning into forced feeding. Variety “whetted” suggests sharpening, not stuffing. The goal isn’t more content, it’s keener desire for it. That’s a teacher’s insight: motivation isn’t a moral virtue students either have or lack; it’s something an instructor can cultivate through pacing, materials, and shifts in task.
The subtext is also political in the Roman sense. Quintilian is training citizens to speak, persuade, and govern themselves. A mind kept alert by variety is harder to dull into compliance, harder to exhaust into rote recitation. Even the line’s balance - both minds and stomachs, both supplied - performs what it recommends: parallel structure as variety within order. It’s a credo for education that treats curiosity not as a distraction, but as the fuel that makes discipline stick.
The intent is quietly corrective. Roman education prized rigor, imitation, and repetition; the future orator was drilled on models until style became muscle memory. Quintilian doesn’t reject discipline, but he warns that monotony can turn learning into forced feeding. Variety “whetted” suggests sharpening, not stuffing. The goal isn’t more content, it’s keener desire for it. That’s a teacher’s insight: motivation isn’t a moral virtue students either have or lack; it’s something an instructor can cultivate through pacing, materials, and shifts in task.
The subtext is also political in the Roman sense. Quintilian is training citizens to speak, persuade, and govern themselves. A mind kept alert by variety is harder to dull into compliance, harder to exhaust into rote recitation. Even the line’s balance - both minds and stomachs, both supplied - performs what it recommends: parallel structure as variety within order. It’s a credo for education that treats curiosity not as a distraction, but as the fuel that makes discipline stick.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
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