All crime is a kind of disease and should be treated as such.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
What’s breaking into a bank compared with founding a bank?
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German Poet, Playwright, Theater Personality
Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you haven’t committed.
—Anthony Powell (1905–2000) English Novelist, Memoirist
A crime persevered in a thousand centuries ceases to be a crime, and becomes a virtue. This is the law of custom, and custom supersedes all other forms of law.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is also true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
All criminals turn preachers under the gallows.
—Common Proverb
As for an authentic villain, the real thing, the absolute, the artist, one rarely meets him even once in a lifetime. The ordinary bad hat is always in part a decent fellow.
—Colette (1873–1954) French Novelist, Performer
He 63 ways of getting money, the most common, most honorable ones being staling, thieving, and robbing.
—Francois Rabelais (1494–1553) French Humanist, Satirist
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 Writer
Crime when it succeeds is called virtue.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Singularity is almost invariably a clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more difficult is it to bring it home.
—Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish Writer
Don’t steal. The government hates competition.
—Anonymous
Poverty may be the mother of crime, but lack of good sense is the father
—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
Today more Americans are imprisoned for drug offenses than for property crimes
—George Will (b.1941) American Columnist, Journalist, Writer
In times of trouble leniency becomes crime.
—Common Proverb
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
Crime seems to change character when it crosses a bridge or a tunnel. In the city, crime is taken as emblematic of class and race. In the suburbs, though, it’s intimate and psychological—resistant to generalization, a mystery of the individual soul.
—Barbara Ehrenreich (1941–2022) American Social Critic, Essayist
There is a new billboard outside Time Square. It keeps an up-to minute count of gun-related crimes in New York. Some goofball is going to shoot someone just to see the numbers move.
—David Letterman (b.1947) American TV Personality, Comedian
The wrongdoer is more unfortunate than the man wronged.
—Democritus (c.460–c.370 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Crime is not punished as an offence against God, but as prejudicial to society.
—James Anthony Froude (1818–94) British Historian, Novelist, Biographer, Editor
He threatens many that hath injured one.
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637) English Dramatist, Poet, Actor
Crime is naught but misdirected energy.
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940) Lithuanian-American Anarchist, Feminist
A thief believes everybody steals.
—E. W. Howe (1853–1937) American Novelist, Editor
As there is a use in medicine for poisons, so the world cannot move without rogues.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
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
Like art and politics, gangsterism is a very important avenue of assimilation into society.
—E. L. Doctorow (b.1931) American Writer, Editor, Academic
Behind every great fortune there is a crime.
—Honore de Balzac (1799–1850) French Novelist
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