“Hippias Minor” by Plato

Socrates argues in this dialogue that the man who lies (or does any sort of evil) voluntarily is better than he who does so involuntarily, because the former has greater power and knowledge. This paradoxical view is consistent with Plato’s assertion in “Laws” that nobody commits injustice voluntarily. Man desires the good and happiness, but injustice renders the one who commits it evil and miserable, the opposite of what he desires, therefore he who commits injustice does it out of ignorance and weakness, i.e., not voluntarily but involuntarily.