The Athenian Oath

"We will never bring disgrace to this our town, by any act of dishonesty or cowardice, nor ever desert our suffering comrades in the ranks; we will fight for the ideals and sacred things of the town, both alone and with many; we will revere and obey the town's laws and do our best to incite a like respect in those above us who are prone to annul or set them at naught; we will strive unceasingly to quicken the public's sense of civic duty, thus in all these ways we will transmit this town not only less, but greater and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us."