Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
How vainly shall we endeavor to repress crime by our barbarous punishment of the poorer class of criminals so long as children are reared in the brutalizing influences of poverty, so long as the bite of want drives men to crime.
—Henry George (1839–97) American Political Economist, Journalist
The common argument that crime is caused by poverty is a kind of slander on the poor.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
All, all is theft, all is unceasing and rigorous competition in nature; the desire to make off with the substance of others is the foremost—the most legitimate—passion nature has bred into us and, without doubt, the most agreeable one.
—Marquis de Sade (1740–1814) French Political leader, Revolutionary, Novelist, Poet, Critic
The study of crime begins with the knowledge of oneself. All that you despise, all that you loathe, all that you reject, all that you condemn and seek to convert by punishment springs from you.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
There is no den in the wide world to hide a rogue.—Commit a crime and the earth is made of glass.—Commit a crime, and it seems as if a coat of snow fell on the ground, such as reveals in the woods the track of every partridge, and fox, and squirrel.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Great thieves punish little ones.
—Common Proverb
Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Many commit the same crime with a different destiny; one bears a cross as the price of his villainy, another wears a crown.
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
Every crime will bring remorse to the man who committed it
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
Behind every great fortune there is a crime.
—Honore de Balzac (1799–1850) French Novelist
There is a heroism in crime as well as in virtue. Vice and infamy have their altars and their religion.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
He that is robbed, not wanting what is stolen, him not know t, and he’s not robbed at all.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Just see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil’s pet baits.
—Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish Writer
Those who are themselves incapable of great crimes, are ever backward to suspect others.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
We are the people our parents warned us about.
—Jimmy Buffett (b.1946) American Musician, Author
Don’t steal. The government hates competition.
—Anonymous
All crime is a kind of disease and should be treated as such.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
All criminals turn preachers under the gallows.
—Common Proverb
For the credit of virtue it must be admitted that the greatest evils which befall mankind are caused by their crimes.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
I have known a vast quantity of nonsense talked about bad men not looking you in the face. Don’t trust that conventional idea. Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance any day in the week, if there is anything to be got by it.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
He has committed the crime who profits by it.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Locks keep out only the honest.
—Hebrew Proverb
The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed.
—Honore de Balzac (1799–1850) French Novelist
If poverty is the mother of crimes, want of sense is the father of them.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
Crime is terribly revealing. Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul is revealed by your actions.
—Agatha Christie (1890–1976) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
War should be made a crime, and those who instigate it should be punished as criminals.
—Charles Evans Hughes (1862–1948) American Elected Rep, Judge, Politician, Lawyer, Professor
The greatest crimes are caused by surfeit, not by want.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Whenever man commits a crime heaven finds a witness.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
From a single crime know the nation.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet