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[2]
I wonder just what their motive may be. Or do you imagine they are
making these speeches gratis? Well, the masters of the oligarchies, whose cause these men
are pleading, might quietly increase their fees.1 But honestly, have you assumed that their principles are better than the
other kind? So oligarchy, presumably, looks better to you than democracy! Then do you
think the men themselves are better? And yet who could reasonably be regarded by you as
honest when he speaks in public against the interest of the established government?
Therefore it remains to conclude that you are mistaken when you hold this opinion.
Consequently, be on your guard against falling into this error, men of Athens, so that you shall not some day give those who
are plotting against you an opening, and only then learn that you have made a mistake,
when it will no longer be of the least advantage to you.
Demosthenes with an English translation by Norman W. DeWitt, Ph.D., and Norman J. DeWitt, Ph.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1949.
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