History of the Peloponnesian War

Thus said Athenagoras. Then one of their generals, rising up, forbade any other to stand forth, and spake himself to the matter in hand to this effect:

It is no wisdom, neither for the speakers to utter such calumnies one against another, nor for the hearers to receive them. We should rather consider, in respect of these reports, how we may in the best manner, both every one in particular and the city in general, be prepared to resist them when they come.