Plato, Laws 854a

τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ἀσθένειαν εὐλαβούμενος, ἐρῶ τὸν τῶν ἱεροσύλων πέρι νόμον καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων τῶν τοιούτων ὅσα δυσίατα καὶ ἀνίατα. προοίμια δὲ τούτοισι, κατὰ τὸν ἔμπροσθεν λόγον ὁμολογηθέντα, προρρητέον ἅπασιν ὡς βραχύτατα. λέγοι δή τις ἂν ἐκείνῳ διαλεγόμενος ἅμα καὶ παραμυθούμενος, ὃν ἐπιθυμία κακὴ παρακαλοῦσα μεθʼ ἡμέραν τε καὶ ἐπεγείρουσα νύκτωρ ἐπί τι τῶν ἱερῶν ἄγει

the general infirmity of human nature, I will state the law about temple-robbing, and all other crimes of a like kind which are hard, if not impossible, to cure. And, in accordance with our rule as already approved, we must prefix to all such laws preludes as brief as possible. By way of argument and admonition one might address in the following terms the man whom an evil desire urges by day and wakes up at night, driving him to rob some sacred object—