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[4] Nevertheless, it is not fair to decry strength because there are persons who assault people whom they encounter, nor to traduce courage because there are those who slay men wantonly, nor in general to transfer to things the depravity of men, but rather to put the blame on the men themselves who misuse the good things, and who, by the very powers which might help their fellow-countrymen, endeavor to do them harm.1

1 The same argument is made at length in Isoc. 15.251-252, also in defense of eloquence.

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, 41
  • Cross-references to this page (2):
    • Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, KG 1.3.1
    • Basil L. Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, The Article
  • Cross-references in notes from this page (1):
    • Isocrates, Antidosis, 251
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (2):
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