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[2]
And certainly I wonder whether speeches of
this sort are capable of deceiving the speaker as much as those to whom they are
addressed, or whether these men knowingly express before the Assembly opinions directly
opposed to what they themselves think best. For if they are unaware that he who is going
to do what requires to be done must not have audacity based upon words but power based
upon armament, nor yet self-confidence based upon the assumption that our enemies will be
weak, but confidence that we shall overmaster them even if they shall be strong, the
elegance of their speeches has prevented them, as it seems, from apprehending the most
vital facts. Yet if they should not even deny awareness of these facts, and some ulterior
motive underlies their predilection for this conduct, how can one help assuming that this
motive, whatever it may be, is base?
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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