Demosthenes Exordia 30

[1] It was your duty, men of Athens , before going to war to have considered what armament would be available for the coming campaign, but if, as a matter of fact, war was not foreseen, it was your duty to have considered also the question of armament on that occasion when you were deliberating for the first time about war after it had become certain. If you shall say that you have commissioned many armies which your commanders ¹ have ruined, no one will accept this excuse of you. For the same people cannot both absolve those in charge of their operations and claim that through fault of these men these operations are not succeeding.

[2] Since, however, past events cannot be altered ² and it is necessary to safeguard our interests as present facilities permit, I see no fitting occasion for laying charges but shall try to offer what I think is the best counsel.

Now, first of all, you must admit this principle, that it is the duty of every man to apply to the task the same superabundance of eagerness and emulation that he displayed of indifference in times past; because thus there is a bare hope that we may be able, though far behind in the pursuit, to overtake what we have let slip.

[3] In the next place, there must be no discouragement over what has happened, because what is worst in the past is the best hope for the future. What, then, do I mean by this, men of Athens ? That it is because you do nothing that you ought to do that your affairs are in a bad way; since if you were doing everything you should and your affairs were in this state, there would be not even a hope of improvement. ³