[17]
But, in the name of the gods, when we have
abandoned all these places and almost helped Philip to gain them, shall we then
ask who is to blame? For I am sure we shall never admit that it is ourselves. In
the panic of battle the runaway never blames himself; it is always his general's
fault, or his comrades', anyone's rather than his own. Yet surely to the
runaways collectively the defeat is due; for he might have stood firm who now
blames the others, and if every man had stood, the battle would have been won.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by J. H. Vince, M.A. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1930.
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