Remember, O my friends, the laws, the rights,
The generous plan of power delivered down
From age to age by your renowned forefathers,
So dearly bought, the price of so much blood:
Oh, let it never perish in your hands!”
Addison, Cato, Act III. Scene 5.
But if any among you thinks that Philip will maintain his power by having occupied forts and havens and the like, this is a mistake.… Impossible is it, impossible, Athenians, to acquire a solid power by injustice and perjury and falsehood. Such things last for once, or for a short period; maybe, they blossom fairly with hope; but in time they are discovered and drop away. As a house, a ship, or the like, ought to have the lower parts firmest, so in human conduct, I ween, the principle and foundation should be just and true.—Demosthenes, Second Olynthiac, tr. Kennedy.