History of the Peloponnesian War

"But of these things, as I maintain, the Athenians are aware and they are, I am quite sure, taking care of their own interests, and men from here are fabricating stories neither true nor possible,

men whom not now for the first time but always I have known to be wishing, either by reports such as these and still more mischievous than these, or by overt acts, to frighten the mass of you and themselves dominate the city. And I fear, moreover, that some day, by dint of repeated attempts, they may actually succeed; for we are poor hands at taking precautions before we are at their mercy, and, if we have discovered their plots, at dealing conclusively with the plotters.