ABSTRACT
Neither should I worry too much about who I am or, as a private citizen with no official function in the commonwealth, what I can reasonably expect to contribute - devoid as I am in specialized knowledge and unaccustomed to making politicaljudgements. 5 We all owe everything to God, and after Him to our country, and to you the foremost man of our country. Nor does God reject the drachma as an unworthy contribution. Nor do you, God's image,6 turn down a drink of cold water. Nor does our country despise any citizen' s service. And this is a shared responsibility and a rare thing in the annals of history. 7 It will be everlastingly a cause for joy or grief. Why can we not one and all fall in with our good fortune and rouse ourselves from our distresses to our opportunities? But I do not underestimate the cynicism of the present age - how uncertain the likelihood of approval and on the part of how few - how certain the aversion and of how many (even those who may assuredly be wise, loyal, and experienced men). As for the wicked and the ignorant, of whom there is a large number, they all judge the writings and the deeds of others on the basis of their own ignorance, and so they despise them. As for many of the experienced ones, unless they are also honest and upright, they carp enviously and obstinately at whatever deviates from their standard. This is the reason why you see them pouncing on trivial mi stakes and refusing to praise outstanding accomplishments. But surely it' s better not to bother about popular applause. There's a higher reward promised for tme insight which, as my sovereign knows, the recipients - once they have achieved it - will never be deprived of.8 I don't doubt that this is something I should try to accomplish. All the while my critics will say that it has al ready been done, or it' s being done badly, or this way or that way it could have been done better, to whom I
might ve~ weIl say (with the poet), "Go ahead and publish something yourself." But I won 't comment on any of this. I take refuge in your majesty' s protection. Here's my safety from barbs and slander. The petulance of my critics, their attacks against me, won't deter me in the least from the work I have in hand.
