The Sage Chilōn on Gesticulation

& (verbiage overflow)Mon 18 August 2014RSS

Diogenes Laertius quotes Chilōn of Sparta (c. 560 B.C.E.):

λέγοντα μὴ κινεῖν τὴν χεῖρα: μανικὸν γάρ.

Gesticulation in speaking should be avoided as a mark of insanity.

Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers I, ed. R.D. Hicks, Loeb Classical Library 184 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1925[1972]), p 73. On line at the Perseus Digital Library (accessed 20140818).

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