[19]
“But what if someone can leave our Theoric
Fund untouched and name other sources for our military budget? Is not he the
better statesman?” says someone. I grant you, men of
Athens—if the thing is possible. But I wonder if any mortal, after
spending all his existing wealth on superfluities, ever did or ever will find
himself with a surplus for necessaries from his vanished funds. I think that in
such proposals the wish is father to the thought, and that is why nothing is
easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be
true. Unfortunately it is not often so in practical politics.
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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