Our forefathers did not regard a charge over public affairs as a chance for private gain

Our forefathers did not regard a charge over public affairs as a chance for private gain but as a service to the state. Neither did they from their first day in office seek to discover whether their predecessors had overlooked any source of profit, but much rather whether they had neglected any business of the state which pressed for settlement. Isocrates, Areopagiticus. Speech 7. Section 25.


Image: Detail of The Piety and Generosity of Roman Women by Nicolas-Guy Brenet, 1785, (PD).

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