In this brief statement, Quintilian places the imaginative above the analytical, or at least before the analytical, a theme that is repeated and elaborated on in Vico and Grassi. At question in Quintilian is whether the imaginative is elementary or the foundational. If elementary it can be left behind when analysis comes to the fore; if foundational provides much of the framework for invention.
"Exuberance
is easilv remedied, but barrenness is incurable, be your efforts what they may.
To my mind the boy who gives least promise is one in whom the critical faculty
develops in advance of the imagination. I like to see the first fruits of the
mind copious to excess and almost extravagant in their profusion."
Book II, Chapter 4
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