[34,15] ταῦτα γὰρ ἔστι μὲν οὐκ ἀληθῆ, ταὐτὰ δ´ ἂν ὑμᾶς ὡς ἀληθῆ βλάψειεν. φέρε δὴ καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὸν στρατηγὸν ὑμῖν ὡς ἔχει λογίσασθε. πρότερον μὲν ὑποψία μόνον ὑπῆρχεν ὡς οὐχ ἡδέως ὑμῶν διακειμένων, ἀλλ´ ὅμως ἐκεῖνός τε ἐπολιτεύετο πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ ὑμεῖς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον καὶ φανερὸν οὐδὲν ἦν· ἄρτι δὲ ὑμεῖς τε τῷ δοκεῖν ἐλαττοῦσθαι παροξυνθέντες εἴπατέ τι κἀκεῖνος προήχθη καὶ γράψαι πρὸς ὀργὴν καὶ ποιῆσαι τοῦθ´, (16) ὅπερ μὴ πρότερον. νὴ Δία ἀλλά γε τὰ τῆς πόλεως αὐτῆς καὶ τὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὑμῖν ὡς δεῖ πρόεισιν. οὐ χθὲς καὶ πρῴην χωρὶς ἦν ὁ δῆμος καὶ χωρὶς ἡ βουλὴ καὶ νῦν ἔτι καθ´ αὑτοὺς οἱ γέροντες, ἰδίᾳ τὸ συμφέρον ἕκαστοι δῆλον ὅτι σκοποῦντες; ὥσπερ εἰ {κατα} πλεόντων ἰδίᾳ μὲν οἱ ναῦται τὸ συμφέρον αὑτοῖς ζητοῖεν, ἰδίᾳ δὲ ὁ κυβερνήτης, ἰδίᾳ δὲ ὁ ναύκληρος. καὶ γὰρ εἰ πολλάκις ταῦτα λέγεται, ἀλλ´ οὐ προσήκει με διὰ τοῦτο παραπέμπειν. οὐ γὰρ τὸ πρώτως ῥηθὲν οὐδ´ ὃ μὴ πρότερόν τις ἤκουσε δεῖ προθύμως ἀποδέχεσθαι, τὸ δὲ οἰκεῖον τῷ πράγματι καὶ τὸ χρείαν τινὰ ἔχον. (17) νὴ Δία, ἀλλὰ νῦν ὡμολογήκαμεν καὶ κοινῇ βουλευόμεθα. καὶ τίς ἂν ἀσφαλῆ καὶ βέβαιον ἡγήσαιτο τὴν τοιαύτην ὁμόνοιαν, τὴν ὑπ´ ὀργῆς μὲν γενομένην, τριῶν δὲ οὖσαν ἢ τεττάρων ἡμερῶν; οὐδὲ γὰρ ὑγιαίνειν ἀσφαλῶς εἴποι τις ἂν τὸν πρὸ μικροῦ πυρέττοντα. μὴ τοίνυν μηδὲ ὑμεῖς αὑτοὺς ὁμονοεῖν λέγετε, πρὶν ἂν ὑμῖν μάλιστα μὲν πολλαπλάσιος διέλθῃ χρόνος· εἰ δ´ οὖν, τοσοῦτος ὅσον δὴ διεφέρεσθε· μηδ´ εἰ ταὐτό ποτ´ ἐφθέγξασθε καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔσχετε ὁρμήν, καὶ δὴ νομίζετε ἐξῃρῆσθαι τὸ νόσημα τῆς πόλεως. (18) καὶ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἀναρμόστοις ὀργάνοις ἐνίοτε οἱ φθόγγοι συνεφώνησαν πρὸς ὀλίγον, εἶτα εὐθὺς ἀπᾴδουσιν. ὥσπερ οὖν τὸ μὲν τρῶσαί τι καὶ διελεῖν ταχὺ γίγνεται καὶ πάνυ ῥᾳδίως, τὸ δὲ συμφῦσαι καὶ συναγαγεῖν χρόνου δεῖται καὶ προσοχῆς, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν πόλεων ἔχει. τὸ μὲν διενεχθῆναι καὶ στασιάσαι πρόχειρον καὶ διὰ μικρὰ συμβαίνει πολλάκις, τὸ δὲ καταστῆναι καὶ τὴν προσήκουσαν λαβεῖν διάθεσιν καὶ πίστιν μὰ Δί´ οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπόντας οὐδὲ (19) δόξαντας μετανοεῖν εὐθὺς ἔχειν. ἴσως μὲν γὰρ οὐ παρὰ μόνοις ὑμῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασι μεγάλης τινὸς τοῦτο δεῖται θεραπείας, μᾶλλον δὲ εὐχῆς. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἄλλως ἢ τῶν κινούντων κακῶν καὶ ταρασσόντων ἀπολυθέντας, φθόνου, πλεονεξίας, φιλονικίας, τοῦ ζητεῖν ἕκαστον αὔξειν ἑαυτὸν {καὶ} τὴν πατρίδα καὶ τὸ κοινῇ συμφέρον ἐάσαντα συμπνεῦσαί ποτε ἰσχυρῶς καὶ ταὐτὰ προελέσθαι. ὡς παρ´ οἷς ἂν ἰσχύῃ ταῦτα καὶ τοιαῦθ´ ἕτερα, τούτους ἀνάγκη τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον ἐπισφαλεῖς εἶναι καὶ διὰ μικρὰ συμπίπτειν καὶ θορυβεῖσθαι, καθάπερ ἐν θαλάττῃ πνευμάτων ἐναντίων ἰσχυόντων.

[34,15] For although these charges are not actually true, still they might do you the same harm as if they were. Well then, consider also the nature of your relations with the general. At first there was merely distrust, on the assumption that you were not agreeably disposed toward him ; but still he performed his civic duties toward you and you toward him, and there was nothing visible on the surface ; but recently you, irritated by the thought that you were getting the worst of it, made a statement, and he on his part was moved to write angrily and to put that anger into operation, a thing he had never done before. (16) Yes, by Zeus,'some one may retort,` but at least the business of the city itself and our dealings with one another are proceeding as they should.' Is it not true that but a day or two ago the Assembly took one course and the Council another and that the Elders still maintain a position of independence, each body clearly consulting its own self-interest ? It was just as if, when a ship is putting in for shore, the sailors should seek their own advantage, the pilot his, and the owner his. For even if this comparison is made repeatedly, still it is your duty not on that account to disregard it. For it is not that which is told for the first time nor that which one has never heard before which one should eagerly accept as true, but rather that which is germane to the situation and may be put to some practical use. (17) "Oh yes,"you may reply, "but now we have reached an agreement and are united in our counsel." Nay, who could regard as safe and sure that sort of concord, a concord achieved in anger and of no more than three or four days' standing ? Why, you would not say a man was in assured good health who a short time back was burning with fever. Well then, neither must you say you are in concord until, if possible, you have enjoyed a period of concord many times as long as that—at any rate as long as your discord—and just because perhaps on some occasion you all have voiced the same sentiment and experienced the same impulse, you must not for that reason assume that now at last the disease has been eradicated from the city. For the fact is that with discordant instruments of music sometimes the notes do sound in unison for a brief moment, only straightway to clash again. Or again, just as the act of wounding and dismembering takes place quickly and quite easily, but the process of healing and knitting together requires time and serious attention, so it is also in the case of cities : quarrelling and party strife are within easy reach and frequently occur for paltry reasons, whereas men may not, by Zeus, immediately arrive at a real settlement of their difficulties and acquire the mental state and the confidence of their neighbours befitting such a settlement merely by claiming to be repentant, nor yet by being thought to be repentant. (19) For not among you alone, I dare say, but also among all other peoples, such a consummation requires a great deal of attentive care—or, shall I say, prayer ? For only by getting rid of the vices that excite and disturb men, the vices of envy, greed, contentiousness, the striving in each case to promote one's own welfare at the expense of both one's native land and the common weal—only so, I repeat, is it possible ever to breathe the breath of harmony in full strength and vigour and to unite upon a common policy. Since those in whom these and similar vices are prevalent must necessarily be in a constant state of instability, and liable for paltry reasons to clash and be thrown into confusion, just as happens at sea when contrary winds prevail.