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Many of those who have
spoken here in the past have praised the institution of this speech at the
close of our ceremony. It seemed to them a mark of honour
to our soldiers who have fallen in war that a speech should be made over
them….
What I want to do is,
in the first place, to discuss the spirit in which we faced our trials and
also our constitution and the way of life which
has made us great….
Let me say that our
system of government does not copy the institutions of our neigh-
bours. It is more the case of our being a model
to others, than of our imitating anyone else. Our constitution is called a
democracy because
power is in the hands not of a minority but of a whole people….
We give our obedience
to those whom we
put in positions of authority, and we obey the
laws themselves, especially those which are for the protection of the
oppressed, and those unwritten laws which it is an acknowledged shame to
break….
And here is another point.
When our work is over we are in a position to enjoy all kinds of recreation
for our spirits. There are various kinds of contests and sacrifices regularly
throughout
the year; in our own homes we find a beauty
and a good taste which delight us every day and which drive away our cares.
Then the greatness
of our city brings it about that all the good
things from all over the world flow into us, so
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that to us it seems just as
natural to enjoy for-
eign goods as our own local products.
Then there is a great
difference between us
and our opponents, in our attitude towards mili-tary
security. Here are some examples: Our city is open to the world, and we have
no periodical deportations in order to prevent people observ-
ing or finding out secrets which might be of mil-itary advantage to the enemy. This is because we rely,
not on secret weapons, but on our own real courage and loyalty….
Our love of what is
beautiful does not lead
to extravagance; our love of the things of the
mind does not make us soft. We regard wealth
as something to be properly used, rather than as something to boast about. As
for poverty, no
one need to be ashamed to admit it; the real
shame is in not taking practical measures to escape from it. Here each
individual is interested not only in his own affairs, but in the affairs of
the state as well: even those who are mostly occupied with their own business
are extremely well informed on general politics….
Again, in questions of
general good feeling there is a great contrast between us and most
other people. We make friends by doing good
to others, not by receiving good from them…. Taking everything together then,
I declare that
our city is an education to Greece.
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