The war itself, men of Athens, will discover the rotten parts of his empire, if we make a trial; but if we sit at home, hearing the orators accuse and malign one another, no good can ever be achieved.
Demosthenes: “The war itself, men of Athens, will discover the rotten parts of his empire, if we make a trial; but if we sit at home…”
Editor's note · Context
From a speech urging active engagement against Philip, on the necessity of action over internal political strife.
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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.
You can not surely allege, that Aristodemus ought to be of importance at Athens, and Athens to be of no account among the Greeks.
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…
They say that you should keep quiet, though you are injured; but they can not themselves keep quiet among you, though no one injures them.





