Public affairs
idea · 2 works · 2 mentions · 4 anchored passages
public affairs · political life · public life
in the texts
Against Aristogeiton II
The domain of civic administration and political speech whose corruption harms the city.
Gentlemen of the jury, I swear by the goddess of Athens that what takes place on the hustings is a disgrace to our city, and it is through the recklessness of such speakers that political life is now discredited with all decent citizens.
But, for myself, I am amazed that there are men so constituted that, though they deposit private property with those only whose past record shows them to be honest, they entrust public affairs to men who have been admittedly proved unscrupulous.
But it is your duty to restrain and check all law-breakers, but especially those who hold office and take part in public affairs, because such men tend to injure the community, if they are unprincipled, and on the other hand to confer the greatest benefit upon it, if they are honest men and willing to abide by the laws.
To Dionysius
The sphere of civic and political action from which Isocrates says he stood apart.
Consequently, it would not be surprising if I should be better able to see something to our advantage than those whose public life has been but guesswork, though they have acquired great renown.
For at the beginning of my career I stood aloof from participation in public affairs (the reasons for this would be tedious to relate), but of that culture which contemns the petty things and attempts to achieve the great things I should not be found to be entirely destitute.