They have risen from beggary to opulence, or from obscurity to honor; some have made their private houses more splendid than the public buildings; and in proportion as the state has declined, their fortunes have been exalted.
Demosthenes criticizes contemporary Athenian leaders who have enriched themselves and built lavish private homes while the state's fortunes have diminished.
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That you, Athenians, may feel and understand both the folly of continually abandoning one thing after another, and the activity which forms part of Philip's habit and existence, which makes it impossible for him to rest content with his…
He has risen by conciliating and cajoling the weakness of every people in turn who knew him not.
There is the insult too, and the disgrace of the thing, worse than any damage to right-thinking men.
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