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[17]
You may also observe, Athenians, that you have been
engaged in many wars both with democracies and with oligarchies. You do not need
to be told that; but perhaps none of you considers what are your motives for war
with either. What, then, are those motives? With democracies, either private
quarrels, when they could not be adjusted by the State, or a question of
territory or boundaries, or else rivalry or the claim to leadership; with
oligarchies you fight for none of these things, but for your constitution and
your liberty.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by C. A. Vince, M. A. and J. H. Vince, M.A. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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