For the sake of accuracy:vegetariantaxidermy wrote:Any educated person would. 'Remember' is not really the right word. You wouldn't say 'I remember Julius Caesar' (unless someone is a couple of thousand years old and actually encountered him in person.Skip wrote: (addendum: all three dead guys whom very few living persons remember.)
I remember Burton, because I'm old. (Wasn't that impressed by him, btw, and doubt today's audience would be)
I do remember hearing Thomas, but cannot recall what his voice sounded like or how he compared to Burton.
Nobody alive today can remember hearing Cicero, and a few with old-fashioned educations or wide-ranging interests know his reputation, so it was a safe bet that nobody here could contradict me with any real conviction.
I now have an answer to "who gives a damn" about which dead guy was the best orator, but stand by the assumption that it's a small-to-vanishing minority.