Since both the benefits and the dangers inherent in listening are equally great for young people, I am of the opinion that listening ought to be a constant topic of discussion in one's own mind and with other people. This is especially so because it is noticeable that most people go about the matter in the wrong way: they practise speaking before they have got used to listening, and they think that speaking takes study and care, but benefit will accrue from even a careless approach to listening. It may be the case that in ball games learning to throw and learning to catch the ball are simultaneous, but in dealing with speech proper receptivity is prior to delivery, just as conception and pregnancy precede the birth of viable offspring.

— Essays by Plutarch, Ian Kidd, Robin Waterfield (Penguin Classics) (Page 29)