History of the Peloponnesian War

So then rivals to do, and not to advise your people contrary to our real opinion, urged on by cleverness and rivalry of talent.

"I, then, continue of the same opinion; and am astonished at those who have proposed to discuss a second time the case of the Mytilenaeans, and caused in it a delay of time, which is all for the advantage of the guilty (for so the sufferer proceeds against the offender with his anger less keen; whereas when retribution treads most closely on the heels of suffering, it best matches it in wreaking vengeance). I wonder, too, who will be the man to maintain the opposite opinion, and to pretend to show that the injuries done by the Mytilenaeans are beneficial to us, and that our misfortunes are losses to our allies. It is evident that either trusting to his eloquence he would strive to prove, in opposition to us, that what we consider most certain has not been ascertained;