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[21] Believe that your staunchest body-guard lies in the virtue of your friends, the loyalty of your citizens and your own wisdom;1 for it is through these that one can best acquire as well as keep the powers of royalty. Watch over the estates of your citizens, and consider that the spenders are paying from your pocket, and the workers are adding to your wealth; for all the property of those who live in the state belongs to kings who rule them well.

1 Cf. Isoc. 10.37.

Isocrates. Isocrates with an English Translation in three volumes, by George Norlin, Ph.D., LL.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1980.

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  • Commentary references to this page (1):
    • Edward S. Forster, Isocrates Cyprian Orations, 10
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    • Isocrates, Helen, 37
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