First, let us prepare for our own defense; provide ourselves, I mean, with ships, money, and troops--for surely, though all other people consented to be slaves, we at least ought to struggle for freedom.
In a call to action for Athenian defense, Demosthenes asserts that even if all others yield to slavery, Athenians must fight for their own freedom.
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Impossible is it,--impossible, Athenians,--to acquire a solid power by injustice and perjury and falsehood.
And surely we must suppose, that Paeonians and Illyrians, and all such people, would rather be free and independent than under subjection; for they are unused to obedience, and the man is a tyrant.
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.
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