When the rich rob the poor it’s called business. When the poor fight back it’s called violence.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
(Spurious)
Frequently, but incorrectly attributed to Twain, no earlier than 2015. It appears to have been an anonymous phrase coined in the Occupy Movement in 2011. See here for more information.
Quotations about:
robbery
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
[The] “robbing of the poor because he is poor,” is especially the mercantile form of theft, consisting in taking advantage of a man’s necessities in order to obtain his labor or property at a reduced price. The ordinary highwayman’s opposite form of robbery — of the rich, because he is rich — does not appear to occur so often to the old merchant’s mind; probably because, being less profitable and more dangerous than the robbery of the poor, it is rarely practice by persons of discretion.
John Ruskin (1819-1900) English art critic, painter, writer, social thinker
Unto This Last, ch. 3 (1800)
I asked a man in prison once how he happened to be there and he said he had stolen a pair of shoes. I told him if he had stolen a railroad he would be a United States Senator.
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones (1860-1930) American labor leader [a.k.a. Mother Jones]
Speech (1903), in The Autobiography of Mother Jones, ch. 10 (1925)
Some men rob you with a six-gun,
Some with a fountain pen.Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (1912-1967) American singer-songwriter and musician
“Pretty Boy Floyd the Outlaw” (1961)
Remove justice, and what are kingdoms but gangs of criminals on a large scale?
[Remota itaque iustitia quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia?]Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus]
City of God [De Civitate Dei], Book 4, ch. 4 (4.4) (AD 412-416) [tr. Bettenson (1972)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:
Set justice aside, then, and what are kingdoms but fair thievish purchases?
[tr. Healey (1610)]
Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies?
[tr. Dods (1871)]
In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized brigandage?
[tr. Zema/Walsh (1950)]
And so if justice is left out, what are kingdoms except great robber bands?
[tr. Green (Loeb) (1963)]
Justice removed, then, what are kingdoms but great bands of robbers?
[tr. Dyson (1998)]
Remove justice, then, and what are kingdoms but large gangs of robbers?
[tr. Babcock (2012)]
In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?
[E.g.]
