[14] But as for myself, if I do not speak in a manner worthy of my subject and of my reputation and of the time which I have spent[9]—not merely the hours which have been devoted to my speech but also all the years which I have lived—I bid you show me no indulgence but hold me up to ridicule and scorn; for there is nothing of the sort which I do not deserve to suffer, if indeed, being no better than the others, I make promises so great.[10] So much, by way of introduction, as to my personal claims.