[183]
Not only is he lost to
shame when money is in question, but he is so dull-witted that he cannot see
that crowns are a symbol of merit, but saucers and the like only of wealth; that
every crown, however small, implies the same regard for honor as if it were
large; that drinking-cups and censers and such possessions, if very numerous,
attach to their owners a sort of reputation for wealth; but, if a man takes
pride in trifles, instead of winning some honor by them, he is disdained as a
man of vulgar tastes. This man, then, after destroying the possessions of honor,
has made the possessions of wealth mean and unworthy of your dignity.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D., LL.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1939.
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