Areopagiticus (9-12)

I am in doubt whether to suppose that you care nothing for the public welfare or that you are concerned about it, but have become so obtuse that you fail to see into what utter confusion our city has fallen. For you resemble men in that state of mind—you who have lost all the cities in Thrace,[*] squandered to no purpose more than a thousand talents on mercenary troops,[*]

provoked the ill-will of the Hellenes and the hostility of the barbarians, and, as if this were not enough, have been compelled to save the friends of the Thebans[*] at the cost of losing our own allies[*]; and yet to celebrate the good news of such accomplishments we have twice now offered grateful sacrifices to the gods,[*] and we deliberate about our affairs more complaisantly than men whose actions leave nothing to be desired!

And it is to be expected that acting as we do we should fare as we do; for nothing can turn out well for those who neglect to adopt a sound policy for the conduct of their government as a whole. On the contrary, even if they do succeed in their enterprises now and then, either through chance or through the genius of some man,[*] they soon after find themselves in the same difficulties as before, as anyone may see from what happened in our own history.

For when all Hellas fell under the power of Athens, after the naval victory of Conon and the campaign of Timotheus, we were not able to hold our good fortune any time at all, but quickly dissipated and destroyed it.[*] For we neither possess nor do we honestly seek to obtain a polity which can properly deal with our affairs.