This
ignorance it was which in that second venture wrecked and ruined
everything.
And now, for good luck's sake, let us on this third venture
abstain from words of ill omen. But, nevertheless, I advise you, his
friends, to imitate in Dion his love for his country and his temperate
habits of daily life, and to try with better auspices to carry out his
wishes-what these were, you have heard from me in plain words. And
whoever among you cannot live the simple Dorian life according to
the customs of your forefathers, but follows the manner of life of
Dion's murderers and of the Sicilians, do not invite this man to
join you, or expect him to do any loyal or salutary act; but invite
all others to the work of resettling all the States of Sicily and
establishing equality under the laws, summoning them from Sicily
itself and from the whole Peloponnese-and have no fear even of Athens;
for there, also, are men who excel all mankind in their devotion to
virtue and in hatred of the reckless acts of those who shed the
blood of friends.
But if, after all, this is work for a future time, whereas immediate
action is called for by the disorders of all sorts and kinds which
arise every day from your state of civil strife, every man to whom
Providence has given even a moderate share of right intelligence ought
to know that in times of civil strife there is no respite from trouble
till the victors make an end of feeding their grudge by combats and
banishments and executions, and of wreaking their vengeance on their
enemies.
Pages:
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33