Demosthenes

I say, you must either desist from these practices, or blame none but yourselves for the wretched condition of your affairs.

No plea or pretense is left you for declining your duty.

But, by always neglecting the present, and imagining the future would shift for itself, we, O men of Athens, have exalted Philip, and made him greater than any king of Macedon ever was.

Money must be had; without it nothing proper can be done.

And let not this escape you, Athenians, that you have now the choice, whether you shall fight there, or he in your country.

You each succeed better in what you are busy and earnest about; Philip in actions, you in words.

Unreasonable were this and unnatural; for all things are easier kept than gotten.

The forces that we imagine we possess in the mean time, are found, when the crisis comes, utterly insufficient.

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.

Every king and despot is a foe to freedom, an antagonist to laws.

And how think ye a man, who behaves so insolently to all, how will he act, when he gets each separately under his control?

Or when, O Athenians, shall we be willing to act as becomes us?

Do not, after yourselves voting for war, dispute with each other, whether you ought or ought not to have done so.

Good luck is for those who are in a position to avail themselves of it.

It became a maxim in their politics, that the end justified the means.

Do not imagine, that his empire is everlastingly secured to him as a god.

That which is the most lamentable in the past is best for the future.