For this reason he will show us no mercy, if he get us into his power: and therefore you must make up your minds, that the struggle will be one for life and death.
Demosthenes: “For this reason he will show us no mercy, if he get us into his power: and therefore you must make up your minds, that…”
Editor's note · Context
Demosthenes warns that Philip will show no mercy if victorious, urging Athenians to recognize the struggle as a fight for survival.
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I say, you must either desist from these practices, or blame none but yourselves for the wretched condition of your affairs.
Because our city is the only one where liberty is allowed to speak for the enemy, where a man taking a bribe may safely address the people, though they have been deprived of their possessions.
He is convinced, you will not submit to be slaves; if you were inclined, you would not know how, having been accustomed to command: you will be able, should occasion offer, to give him more trouble than any people in the world.
Yea, among these men, some have risen rapidly from poverty to wealth, from meanness and obscurity to repute and honor, while you, on the contrary, have fallen from honor to obscurity, from wealth to indigence.





