“Steal a little and they throw you in jail; steal a lot and they make you king.”
Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist
Song lyrics, Infidels (1983), Sweetheart Like You
“They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings steal a little and they throw you in jail. Steal a lot and then they make you king.”
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Bob Dylan523
American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist 1941Related quotes
“They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings.”
Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist
Song lyrics, Infidels (1983), Sweetheart Like You
“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer
April 7, 1775, p. 253
Boswell's full mention of this statement reads:
:Patriotism having become one of our topicks, Johnson suddenly uttered, in a strong determined tone, an apophthegm, at which many will start: "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." But let it be considered, that he did not mean a real and generous love of our country, but that pretended patriotism which so many, in all ages and countries, have made a cloak of self-interest.
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol II
“Steal a loaf of bread and they hang you, steal a land and they'll make you king.”
David Gemmell book Stormrider
Source: Rigante series, Stormrider, Ch. 5
“Jargon is the last refuge of the scoundrel.”
Roger Ebert (1942–2013) American film critic, author, journalist, and TV presenter
" O, Synecdoche, my Synecdoche! http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/o_synecdoche_my_synecdoche.html," (10 November 2008) <br class="br">Context: I was instructed long ago by a wise editor, "If you understand something you can explain it so that almost anyone can understand it. If you don't, you won't be able to understand your own explanation." That is why 90% of academic film theory is bullshit. Jargon is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
“No wonder scoundrels find refuge in patriotism; it offers them immunity from criticism.”
Bill Moyers (1934) American journalist
On polls showing that many Americans would support a restriction of free speech especially if against speech held to be unpatriotic, in a speech to the Society of Professional Journalists (11 September 2004)
Barbara Ehrenreich (1941) American writer and journalist
"Family Values," The Worst Years of Our Lives: Irreverent Notes from a Decade of Greed (1991)
Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American inventor and businessman
As quoted in Tesla : The Modern Sorcerer (1999) by Daniel Blair Stewart, p. 411.
Date unknown
Variant: Everyone steals in commerce and industry. I have stolen a lot myself. But at least I know how to steal.