QuoteProject
If we steal a man's purse we are thieves. If we steal twelve hundred islands we are patriots. If you steal a man's money you will be sent to the penitentiary. If you steal his liberty you will be sent to the White House.
William Jennings Bryan
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote critiques the hypocrisy in societal morals regarding theft and patriotism, suggesting that larger acts of theft are often glorified if committed for a nation.

William Jennings Bryan’s quote highlights the double standards in society regarding theft and morality. It juxtaposes personal theft, which is condemned and punished, with larger acts of appropriation, such as colonization or national expansion, which are often celebrated or justified as patriotic. By drawing this comparison, Bryan invites the reader to reflect on the nature of justice and the differing values placed on personal versus national integrity.

Themes

TheftPatriotismHypocrisyJusticeLibertyMorality

In practice

Example use cases

During a debate on government ethics, this quote can highlight the hypocrisy in political actions.

More from William Jennings Bryan

Service is the measure of greatness; it always has been true; it is true today, and it always will be true, that he is greatest who does the most of good. Nearly all of our controversies and combats grow out of the fact that we are trying to get something from each other--there will be peace when our aim is to do something for each other. The human measure of a human life is its income; the divine measure of a life is its outgo, its overflow--its contribution to the welfare of all.
William Jennings BryanRead
Our government, conceived in liberty and purchased with blood, can be preserved only by constant vigilance. May we guard it as our children's richest legacy, for what shall it profit our nation if it shall gain the whole world and lose “the spirit that prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all lands everywhere”?
William Jennings BryanRead
Behold a republic standing erect while empires all around are bowed beneath the weight of their own armaments - a republic whose flag is loved while other flags are only feared.
William Jennings BryanRead
This is not a contest between persons. The humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error. I come to you in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty - the cause of humanity.
William Jennings BryanRead
Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
William Jennings BryanRead
Two people in a conversation amount to four people talking. The four are what one person says, what he really wanted to say, what his listener heard, and what he thought he heard.
William Jennings BryanRead

Similar quotes

The rain that fell on the city runs down the dark gutters and empties into the sea without even soaking the ground
Haruki MurakamiRead
[E]very act of a delegated authority, contrary to the tenor of the commission under which it is exercised, is void. No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this, would be to affirm, that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by virtue of powers, may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.
Alexander HamiltonRead
Luxury lies not in the richness of things, but in the absence of vulgarity
Coco ChanelRead
the first quality of an honest man is contempt for religion, which would have us afraid of the most natural thing in the world, which is death; and would have us hate the one beautiful thing destiny has given us, which is life.
Umberto EcoRead
We establish no religion in this country. We command no worship. We mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are and must remain separate.
Ronald ReaganRead
In music, in the sea, in a flower, in a leaf, in an act of kindness... I see what people call God in all these things.
Pablo CasalsRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.