He who steals a belt buckle pays with his life; he who steals a state gets to be a feudal lord.

The petty thief is imprisoned but the big thief becomes a feudal lord.

Steal a little and they throw you in jail. Steal a lot and they make you king.

When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.

A thief was a thief, whether he stole a little or a lot.

For it is too extreme and cruel a punishment for theft, and yet not sufficient to restrain men from theft. For simple theft is not so great an offense that it ought to be punished with death. Neither is there any punishment that is so horrible that it can keep men from stealing who have no other craft whereby to get their living.

Stealing to forgive the killing, because maybe they do out of necessity, but the traitor ever

Steal five dollars and you're a common thief. Steal thousands and you're either the government or a hero.

Hunger makes a thief of any man.

"...the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword."
"...a ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is."

They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings steal a little and they throw you in jail. Steal a lot and then they make you king.

If he's honest, he'll steal; if he's human, he'll murder; if he's faithful, he'll deceive.

To make a thief, make an owner; to create crime, create laws.

"He who steals my purse steals my right to live," was the reply, "old saws to the contrary. For he steals my bread and meat and bed, and in doing so imperils my life."