“We must recognize today that it is normal for the wealthiest to be the greatest thieves. When a poor man steals it is merely a theft, a petty crime -- it is solely about survival and necessity. The rich are the ones who steal from the treasury, customs duties, and who exploit the people.”
From a speech given to the Organization of African Unity on 29 July 1987 https://www.marxists.org/archive/sankara/1987/july/29.htm
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Thomas Sankara12
President of Upper Volta 1949–1987Related quotes
Wilhelm Reich book The Mass Psychology of Fascism
Source: The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933), p. 19
Cf. Anatole France, Le Lys Rouge [The Red Lily] (1894), ch. 7: La majestueuse égalité des lois, qui interdit au riche comme au pauvre de coucher sous les ponts, de mendier dans les rues et de voler du pain. (The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.)
Source: Farthing (2006), Chapter 18
Assata Shakur (1947) American activist who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army
To My People (July 4, 1973)
“A lie is an act of theft. It steals peoples faith and makes them resent themselves”
James Lee Burke (1936) Novelist, short story writer
“It's not a crime to be gullible. But it is a crime to steal from a gullible person.”
Bob Nygaard private detective specializing in psychic fraud
ABC7 investigation: Self-proclaimed psychics bilk thousands from vulnerable clients http://abc7.com/news/self-proclaimed-psychics-bilk-thousands-from-clients/1954924, ABC News (4 May 2017)
Jean Genet (1910–1986) French novelist, playwright, poet and political activist
Source: Miracle of the Rose