[195]
Now this quotation is of a more finished style1 than what has been said before, but its meaning is the same, and this ought to be taken by you as a convincing proof of my honesty; for you see that I did not brag and make big promises when I was young only to speak modestly for my philosophy now that I have reaped the harvest of my labors and am an old man, but that, on the contrary, I speak in the same terms both when I was at the height of my career and now when I am ready to retire from it, both when I had no thought of danger and now when I stand in jeopardy, and both in addressing those who wanted to become my pupils and now in addressing those who are to vote upon my fate. I do not see, therefore, how the sincerity and honesty of my professions could be more clearly shown.
1 The earlier compositions are more finished as to rhythm and musical quality. See Isoc. 5.27.
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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