[25]
That sounds like a riddle, but I will explain. Look
at the great city that lies around you, men of Athens. In that city there is wealth, I might almost say, equal
to that of all the other Greek cities together. But that wealth is in the hands
of men whose temper is such that if all our orators started a scare that the
King is coming, that he is close at hand, that the report must be true, and if
the orators were backed by an equal number of oracle-mongers, not only would
they fail to contribute, but they would refuse to declare or acknowledge their
wealth.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by C. A. Vince, M. A. and J. H. Vince, M.A. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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