Plato, Letters 314d

πέμψαιμί σοι· ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ περὶ Λυκόφρονος καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν παρὰ σοὶ ὄντων λέγω καὶ πάλαι καὶ νῦν τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον, ὅτι πρὸς τὸ διαλεχθῆναι καὶ φύσει καὶ τῇ μεθόδῳ τῶν λόγων πάμπολυ διαφέρεις αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐδεὶς αὐτῶν ἑκὼν ἐξελέγχεται, ὥς τινες ὑπολαμβάνουσιν, ἀλλʼ ἄκοντες. καὶ δοκεῖς μέντοι πάνυ μετρίως κεχρῆσθαί τε αὐτοῖς καὶ δεδωρῆσθαι. ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τούτων, πολλὰ ὡς περὶ τοιούτων·

the same statement about Lycophron also and the others you have with you, that, as respects dialectic, you are far superior to them all both in natural intelligence and in argumentative ability; and I maintain that if any of them is beaten in argument, this defeat is not voluntary, as some imagine, but involuntary. All the same, it appears that you treat them with the greatest consideration and make them presents. So much, then, about these men; too much, indeed, about such as they! As for Philistion, if you are making use of him yourself by all means do so;