Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyts New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Thieving
Who steals a bugle-horn, a ring, a steed, Or such like worthless thing, has some discretion; Tis petty larceny: not such his deed Who robs us of our fame, our best possession. BerniOrlando Innamorata. Canto LV.
To live On means not yoursbe brave in silks and laces, Gallant in steeds; splendid in banquets; all Not yours. Given, uninherited, unpaid for; This is to be a trickster; and to filch Mens art and labour, which to them is wealth, Life, daily bread;quitting all scores with friend, Youre troublesome! Why this, forgive me, Is what, when done with a less dainty grace, Plain folks call Theft. Bulwer-LyttonRichelieu. Act I. Sc. 2.
Tis bad enough in man or woman To steal a goose from off a common; But surely hes without excuse Who steals a common from the goose. Epigram in Careys Commonplace Book of Epigrams. (1872). Different versions of the same were prompted by the Enclosure Acts. One version given in Sabrinæ Corolla was written when Charles Pratt, first Earl of Camden, took a common strip of land in front of Camden House. Oct. 7, 1764.
The Friar preached against stealing, and had a goose in his sleeve. HerbertJacula Prudentum. In vain we call old notions fudge And bend our conscience to our dealing. The Ten Commandments will not budge And stealing will continue stealing. Motto of American Copyright League. Written Nov. 20, 1885.
Stolen sweets are always sweeter: Stolen kisses much completer; Stolen looks are nice in chapels: Stolen, stolen be your apples. Thomas RandolphSong of Fairies.
The suns a thief, and with his great attraction Robs the vast sea; the moons an arrant thief, And her pale fire she snatches from the sun: The seas a thief, whose liquid surge resolves The moon into salt tears: the earths a thief, That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen From general excrement: each things a thief; The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power Have uncheckd theft. Timon of Athens. Act IV. Sc. 3. L. 439.