Then are ye so senseless, Athenians, as to imagine, that the same measures, which have brought the country from a prosperous to a poor condition, will bring it from a poor to a prosperous?
Demosthenes challenges the Athenians to recognize the futility of expecting different results from the same policies that led to their decline.
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Because, I conceive, measuring his calculations by ambition, by his desire of universal empire, without regard to peace, quiet, or justice, he saw plainly, that to a people of our character and principles nothing could he offer or give…
True, when a confederacy subsists by good-will, and all parties to the war have a common interest, men are willing to co-operate and bear hardships and persevere.
On many occasions, men of Athens, one may see the kindness of the gods to this country manifested, but most signally, I think, on the present.
The present crisis, O Athenians, requires, if any ever did, much thought and counsel.
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