Nibley on Rhetoric XVII

Nibley on the independence of rhetors:

Rhetoric, according to Augustine, is the art which, animated by necessity rather than "purity," scatters to the populace from its overflowing bosom (the Roman equivalent of pockets) an abundance of delights, thus leading them to comply with his interests. You can get what you want our of people if only you give them what they want---without question and without hesitation. The rhetor, say Philo, is the slave of a thousand masters, the public is a whore, and he is her minion and her lap-dog. (Hugh Nibley, "Vicotriosa Loquacitas," CWHN 10:259.