Demosthenes Quotes
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To remind a man of the good turns you have done him is very much like a reproach.
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Close alliances with despots are never safe for free states.
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Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe.
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We need money, for sure, Athenians, and without money nothing can be done that ought to be done.
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Great and unexpected successes are often the cause of foolish rushing into acts of extravagance.
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Excessive dealings with tyrants are not good for the security of free states.
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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.
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The end of wisdom is consultation and deliberation.
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The man who is in the highest state of prosperity, and who thinks his fortune is most secure, knows not if it will remain unchanged till the evening.
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Every dictator is an enemy of freedom, an opponent of law.
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Do you remember that in classical times when Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, "How well he spoke" but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, they said, "Let us march.
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It is the natural disposition of all men to listen with pleasure to abuse and slander of their neighbour, and to hear with impatience those who utter praises of themselves.
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There is one safeguard known generally to the wise, which is an advantage and security to all, but especially to democracies as against despots - suspicion.
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All speech is vain and empty unless it be accompanied by action.
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The easiest thing in the world is self-deceit; for every man believes what he wishes, though the reality is often different.
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The man who flies shall fight again. [Lat., Qui fugiebat, rusus praeliabitur.]
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He who confers a favor should at once forget it, if he is not to show a sordid ungenerous spirit. To remind a man of a kindness conferred and to talk of it, is little different from reproach.
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Nothing is so easy as to deceive one's self; for what we wish, that we readily believe; but such expectations are often inconsistent with the real state of things.
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Delivery, delivery, delivery.
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Clouds cannot cover secret places, nor denials conceal truth.
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Good fortune is the greatest of blessings, but good counsel comes next, and the lack of it destroys the other also.
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The fact speak for themselves.
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A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true.
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What a man wishes, he will believe.