[10]
For we must take account not only of loss
of money, but of loss of good fame, which you are more anxious to keep than your
money—yes, you and your ancestors also. The proof of this is that when
they had accumulated vast sums, they spent all for honor, and when reputation
was at stake, they never shrank from danger, but even lavished their private
fortunes without stint.1 As it stands, then, this law reflects on your city
not honor but disgrace, unworthy alike of your ancestors and of yourselves; for
Athens is incurring the three
worst reproaches—that men should think us envious, faithless,
ungrateful.
1 He refers to the wealth of the State in the time of Pericles （cf. Dem. 13.26）, and to the exertions of the Athenians during the Peloponnesian War.
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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