M. Basil advises: ” When we hear slander that burdens someone, we should do what Alexander did: to hear them with only one ear and the other to keep it free, so we can hear the one who is being slandered ” (” τὴν ἑτέραν τῶν ἀκοῶν ἀκεραίαν ταμιευσόμεθα τῷ διαβαλλομένῳ ” [P.G. 32, 296]).
Holy Fotios gives the same advice in a letter to the count Alexander (P.G. 102,957).