Quick or Slow Speech — The Essays of Montaigne

Montaigne opens by noting that no one receives every grace: some speakers have present wit, always ready; others move slowly and speak only what they have long prepared. He would assign the slow tongue to the pulpit and the quick to the bar, since preachers can prepare while pleaders must answer surprises.

Yet at Marseilles the famous barrister Poyet arrived with a polished harangue for the Pope, then failed when Clement demanded a different topic and Cardinal du Bellay had to replace him. Montaigne reflects that wit should be prompt and judgment slow, but total silence from over-preparation is misery too.

He describes his own temperament: laborious drafts smell of the lamp; under pressure his fancy loosens, and he often speaks better when occasion stirs him than when he sounds his mind alone. The lesson is to match your pace to the room, not fight your nature in the wrong forum.