“ A stupid man’s report of what a clever man says is never accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something that he can understand. I would rather be reported by my bitterest enemy among philosophers than by a friend innocent of philosophy. ”
 Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy (1945). copy citation

add

“As Burnet says (Thales to Plato, p. 149) : “ Xenophon’s defence of Socrates is too successful. He would never have been put to death if he had been like that. ” This is a very invalid line of argument. A stupid man’s report of what a clever man says is never accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something that he can understand. I would rather be reported by my bitterest enemy among philosophers than by a friend innocent of philosophy. We cannot therefore accept what Xenophon says if it either involves any difficult point in philosophy or is part of an argument to prove that Socrates was unjustly condemned.
Nevertheless, some of Xenophon’s reminiscences are very convincing.” source