This article contains too many or overly lengthy quotations. Please help summarize the quotations. Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote or excerpts to Wikisource. (February 2024) P. Oxy. 3679, a manuscript from the 3rd century AD, containing fragments of Plato's Republic. In Plato's The Republic, a noble lie is a myth or a lie knowingly propagated by an elite to maintain social har