ἐλεητικοὶ δὲ καὶ οἱ (19) γέροντές εἰσιν, ἀλλ’ οὐ διὰ ταὐτὰ τοῖς νέοις·
οἱ μὲν γὰρ διὰ (20) φιλανθρωπίαν, οἱ δὲ δι’ ἀσθένειαν·
πάντα γὰρ οἴονται ἐγγὺς (21) εἶναι αὑτοῖς παθεῖν, τοῦτο δ’ ἦν ἐλεητικόν·
ὅθεν ὀδυρτικοί (22) εἰσι, καὶ οὐκ εὐτράπελοι οὐδὲ φιλογέλοιοι· ἐναντίον γὰρ τὸ (23) ὀδυρτικὸν τῷ φιλογέλωτι.
(24) τῶν μὲν οὖν νέων καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων τὰ ἤθη τοιαῦτα,
(25) ὥστ’ ἐπεὶ ἀποδέχονται πάντες τοὺς τῷ σφετέρῳ ἤθει (26) λεγομένους λόγους καὶ τοὺς ὁμοίους,
οὐκ ἄδηλον πῶς χρώμενοι (27) τοῖς λόγοις τοιοῦτοι φανοῦνται καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ λόγοι.
Old men may feel pity, as well as young men, but not for the same reason.
Young men feel it out of kindness; old men out of weakness,
imagining that anything that befalls any one else might easily happen to them, which, as we saw, is a thought that excites pity.
Hence they are querulous, and not disposed to jesting or laughter—the love of laughter being the very opposite of querulousness.
Such are the characters of Young Men and Elderly Men.
People always think well of speeches adapted to, and reflecting, their own character:
and we can now see how to compose our speeches so as to adapt both them and ourselves to our audiences.