“There is nothing so unbelievable that it may not become probable by putting it into words.”–Cicero, Paradoxes. (Sed nihil est tam incredibile, quod non dicendo fiat probabile.)
Fantasists and spin-doctors live by this saying, even if they’ve never heard it.
A beautiful quotation. It could’ve been the official slogan of pulp magazine fiction writers.
I’m pretty ignorant of Latin, but it amazes me how succinct that language was in the hands of a master, Caesar’s “Veni, Vedi, Veci!” still being one of the great election slogans of all time. And there’s a six-word summation of one of the early Caesars — Galba, I think — by (probably) Suetonius, that essentially says that everyone thought he’d make a splendid emperor ’til he proved them wrong by becoming emperor. In six words. Amazing.
Latin does have a lot of crunch. I love English, too, but its virtues are definitely wordier ones.
Wow! He discovered the Overton window…
I’d never heard of the Overton window until I read your message… and yet my family used to own a house on Mackinac Island (after which his policy center was named). This was unthinkable until I put it into words, and it’s already at least acceptable.
Wow, I now think it’s inevitable…