It is folly and cowardice to cherish such hopes, and, while you take evil counsel and shirk every duty, and even listen to those who plead for your enemies, to think you inhabit a city of such magnitude, that you can not suffer any serious misfortune.
In a speech warning Athenians against complacency, Demosthenes condemns the folly of believing a great city is immune to misfortune despite poor leadership and inaction.
Share
More from Demosthenes
I could have wished, knowing the advantage of good counsel to you, I were equally certain of its advantage to the counselor: so should I have spoken with more satisfaction.
To this point are the affairs of Athens brought, that the more fully and clearly one convicts Philip of violating the peace with you, and plotting against the whole of Greece, the more difficult it becomes to advise you how to act.
The present crisis, O Athenians, requires, if any ever did, much thought and counsel.
To call him perjured and treacherous, without showing what he has done, might justly be termed idle abuse.
Other voices in this conversation
