Plato, Laws 735d

τῶν ἄλλων πράξεων. αὐτίκα γὰρ τὸ περὶ καθαρμοὺς πόλεως ὧδʼ ἔχον ἂν εἴη· πολλῶν οὐσῶν τῶν διακαθάρσεων αἱ μὲν ῥᾴους εἰσίν, αἱ δὲ χαλεπώτεραι, καὶ τὰς μὲν τύραννος μὲν ὢν καὶ νομοθέτης ὁ αὐτός, ὅσαι χαλεπαί τʼ εἰσὶν καὶ ἄρισται, δύναιτʼ ἂν καθῆραι, νομοθέτης δὲ ἄνευ τυραννίδος καθιστὰς πολιτείαν καινὴν καὶ νόμους, εἰ καὶ τὸν πρᾳότατον τῶν καθαρμῶν καθήρειεν, ἀγαπώντως ἂν καὶ τὸ τοιοῦτον δράσειεν. ἔστι δʼ ὁ μὲν ἄριστος ἀλγεινός, καθάπερ ὅσα τῶν

this would be the way of it. Of the many possible modes of purging, some are milder, some more severe; those that are severest and best a lawgiver who was also a despot might be able to effect, but a lawgiver without despotic power might be well content if, in establishing a new polity and laws, he could effect even the mildest of purgations. The best purge is painful, like all medicines of a drastic nature,—