[22]
For they are their own masters in all that they do, and they all but sell the
public weal by the voice of the common crier; and they order you to crown, or
not to crown, whomsoever they will, setting themselves up as superior to your
decrees. I advise you, men of Athens, not to allow the ambitions of those who are ready to lavish
their money to be dependent upon the greed of those who serve as pleaders.
Otherwise you will teach all to perform the duties imposed by you with the least
possible outlay, but to hire the largest number of people possible to utter
impudent falsehoods before you in support of their claims.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by Norman W. DeWitt, Ph.D., and Norman J. DeWitt, Ph.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1949.
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