WIST Quotations

Demosthenes -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 23:58:44 +0000

The man who has received a benefit ought always to remember it, but he who has granted it ought to forget the fact at once.

Demosthenes (384-322 BC) Greek orator and statesman
(Attributed)
(Source)

Attributed in Hugh Percy Jones, A New Dictionary of Foreign Phrases and Classical Quotations (1900).

Demosthenes -- Second Philippic, Sec. 21 (344 BC) [tr. Vince (1930)]

Dave — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 12:43:51 +0000

For truly such close communications with tyranny corrupt good constitutions.

Demosthenes (384-322 BC) Greek orator and statesman
Second Philippic, Sec. 21 (344 BC) [tr. Vince (1930)]
(Source)

Alt. trans.: "For those close and intimate alliances with despots are never safe to free states."

Demosthenes -- Third Olynthiac, sec. 19 (349 BC)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Nothing is so easy as to deceive one’s self; for what we wish, that we readily believe.

Demosthenes (384-322 BC) Greek orator and statesman
Third Olynthiac, sec. 19 (349 BC)

Alt. trans.: "Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true."

Demosthenes -- Oration 19, “On the False Embassy,” sec. 343 (Conclusion)

Dave — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 23:21:19 +0000

For your reputation, for your religion, for your safety, for every advantage you have, do not acquit this man — no, exact vengeance upon him to make him an example to everyone, to our citizens and to the rest of the world.

[οὔτε γὰρ πρὸς δόξαν οὔτε πρὸς εὐσέβειαν οὔτε πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν οὔτε πρὸς ἄλλ᾿ οὐδὲν ὑμῖν συμφέρει τοῦτον ἀφεῖναι, ἀλλὰ τιμωρησαμένους παράδειγμα ποιῆσαι πᾶσι, καὶ τοῖς πολίταις καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἕλλησιν.]

Demosthenes (384-322 BC) Greek orator and statesman
Oration 19, “On the False Embassy,” sec. 343 (Conclusion)
(Source)

Also known as "On the False Legation". Alt. trans.: "For the sake of your honor, of your religion, of your security, of everything you value, you must not acquit this man. Visit him with exemplary punishment, and let his fate be a warning not to our own citizens alone but to every man who lives in the Hellenic world." [tr. Vince, Vince (1926)]