Πολιτεία, Τόμος 2

A philosophical conversation argues that the education and poetry given to future guardians must be regulated to cultivate desirable virtues: portrayals of gods and the afterlife that provoke fear, pity, or excessive mourning should be removed, terrifying names and grotesque images excised, and depictions that make the divine appear ridiculous forbidden. Such censorship aims to prevent softness and cowardice, encouraging courage, self-sufficiency, and readiness to face death rather than endure slavery. The passage further contends that rulers may uniquely deploy falsehoods as pragmatic tools for the community's benefit, while truth remains the general rule for others.