Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.
DemosthenesRead
Close alliances with despots are never safe for free states.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Maintaining close ties with tyrannical rulers jeopardizes the freedom of democratic states.
This quote by Demosthenes emphasizes the inherent danger for free states that forge close relationships with despotic regimes. When democracies ally with authoritarian powers, they risk compromising their own liberties and values, as these alliances may lead to moral and ethical conflicts, and undermine the principles of freedom that they stand for.
Themes
AlliancesDespotsFree StatesDangerDemocracy
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about international relations, this quote can emphasize the risks of supporting authoritarian regimes.
More from Demosthenes
All quotes →You cannot have a proud and chivalrous spirit if your conduct is mean and paltry; for whatever a man's actions are, such must be his spirit.
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Beware lest in your anxiety to avoid war you obtain a master
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Success has a great tendency to conceal and throw a veil over the evil deeds of men.
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A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true.
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Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe.
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