On the recordc. 349 BC
There must be some cause, some good reason, why the Greeks were so eager for liberty then, and now are eager for servitude.
Said by
Demosthenes
Source
gutenberg.orgDemosthenes: “There must be some cause, some good reason, why the Greeks were so eager for liberty then, and now are eager for…”
Editor's note · Context
From a speech lamenting the decline of Greek resolve against foreign domination, on the shift from a love of liberty to a tolerance of servitude.
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c. 349 BC
He is convinced, you will not submit to be slaves; if you were inclined, you would not know how, having been accustomed to command: you will be able, should occasion offer, to give him more trouble than any people in the world.
c. 349 BC
If we admitted the truth of what would be your best possible answer, namely, that all you do is for honor and renown, I wonder what puts it into your head, that you ought from such motives to exert yourself and undergo toil and danger…
c. 349 BC
For this reason he will show us no mercy, if he get us into his power: and therefore you must make up your minds, that the struggle will be one for life and death.
c. 349 BC
But I suppose, you inherit a reputation from your father and grandfather, which it were disgraceful in your own person to extinguish, whereas the ancestry of the state was ignoble and mean.
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