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窃(Steal)钩(hook)者(people)诛(gets a death sentence) 窃(Steal)国(country)者(people)侯(gets to be the king)

by ferguess_k 1y ago

OJFord 1y ago
Is this missing a sentence like 'there is a saying in mandarin:'?
- docsaintly 1y ago
  I think they meant: 窃钩者诛，窃国者侯 qiègōuzhě zhū, qièguózhě hóu He who steals a belt buckle pays with his life; he who steals a state gets to be a feudal lord. Yes, it is a Chinese idiom.
  - anthk 1y ago
    The same in Spanish. Steal a hen, get a harsh sentence. Steal millions, you are now a respectable 'businessman'.
    - atrocious 1y ago
      The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common But leaves the greater villain loose Who steals the common from off the goose.
    - Gibbon1 1y ago
      Kill a man you're a murderer. Kill millions and you're a statesman.
      - moomin 1y ago
        Pretty sure that’s known as The Blair Doctrine.
        appreciatorBus 1y ago
        Or the Stalin doctrine, "One death is a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic"
    - pezezin 1y ago
      I am Spanish and I have never heard this proverb...
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
- ferguess_k 1y ago
  Yeah it was a Chinese saying.
echelon 1y ago
This is a remarkably good idiom that rings true. Similar to Paul Getty's quote, "If you owe the bank $100, that's your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that's the bank's problem." But in this case, it cuts much deeper and darker.
- Brian_K_White 1y ago
  I think that's a pretty different concept being expressed by that one. The others are about getting away with something by just making the crime big enough that it's evaluated and handled in a totally different arena. The bank can still destroy the rest of your life, so you didn't get away with anything (setting aside bankrupcy and how you can actually usually start over, and that may or may not be all that terrible for you). The banking one is just saying that the bank can not get 100 million from you no matter what they do, because it simply doesn't exist. In that case, everyone still agrees you still owe it and they are entitled to it. You didn't gain anything by going big enough. And it's not really true that it's the banks problem instead of yours. The bank has a problem, but you still also have a problem.
  - cjbenedikt 1y ago
    "...setting aside bankrupcy and how you can actually usually start over, and that may or may not be all that terrible for you..." You might even be elected president...:-p
  - bryanrasmussen 1y ago
    that's really not what it means, it means that if you owe the bank enough money (which is probably more than 100 million nowadays for any significant bank) then it is you in the position of power in relation to the bank, when the bank comes and says hey we need the money sure you have the "problem" that you need to pay it, but let's say you can pay it no sweat, but you'd rather not because reasons so you say hmm, I think I would like to renegotiate the interest and wait a year before paying, and unless things are very extreme the bank will probably have to acquiesce, if they don't they are basically letting the world know hey, we have a 100 million dollar problem, but until they make that announcement that 100 million is just another asset the bank has. If you owe the bank enough money, you have the power in the relationship in most cases.
achierius 1y ago
"He who steals from one citizen,” said Cato, “ends his days in fetters and chains; but he who steals from all ends them in purple and gold.”
- mananaysiempre 1y ago
  > “Fures,” inquit [Cato], “privatorum furtorum in nervo atque in compedibus aetatem agunt, fures publici in auro atque in purpura.” A. Gellius, Noctes Atticae, XI, 18, 18. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Gellius/11*.html#18.18 https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Gellius/1...

窃(Steal)钩(hook)者(people)诛(gets a death sentence) 窃(Steal)国(country)者(people)侯(gets to be the king)

OJFord 1y ago

Is this missing a sentence like 'there is a saying in mandarin:'?

docsaintly 1y ago
I think they meant: 窃钩者诛，窃国者侯 qiègōuzhě zhū, qièguózhě hóu He who steals a belt buckle pays with his life; he who steals a state gets to be a feudal lord. Yes, it is a Chinese idiom.
- anthk 1y ago
  The same in Spanish. Steal a hen, get a harsh sentence. Steal millions, you are now a respectable 'businessman'.
  - atrocious 1y ago
    The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common But leaves the greater villain loose Who steals the common from off the goose.
  - Gibbon1 1y ago
    Kill a man you're a murderer. Kill millions and you're a statesman.
    - moomin 1y ago
      Pretty sure that’s known as The Blair Doctrine.
      - appreciatorBus 1y ago
        Or the Stalin doctrine, "One death is a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic"
  - pezezin 1y ago
    I am Spanish and I have never heard this proverb...
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
ferguess_k 1y ago
Yeah it was a Chinese saying.

echelon 1y ago

This is a remarkably good idiom that rings true. Similar to Paul Getty's quote, "If you owe the bank $100, that's your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that's the bank's problem." But in this case, it cuts much deeper and darker.

Brian_K_White 1y ago
I think that's a pretty different concept being expressed by that one. The others are about getting away with something by just making the crime big enough that it's evaluated and handled in a totally different arena. The bank can still destroy the rest of your life, so you didn't get away with anything (setting aside bankrupcy and how you can actually usually start over, and that may or may not be all that terrible for you). The banking one is just saying that the bank can not get 100 million from you no matter what they do, because it simply doesn't exist. In that case, everyone still agrees you still owe it and they are entitled to it. You didn't gain anything by going big enough. And it's not really true that it's the banks problem instead of yours. The bank has a problem, but you still also have a problem.
- cjbenedikt 1y ago
  "...setting aside bankrupcy and how you can actually usually start over, and that may or may not be all that terrible for you..." You might even be elected president...:-p
- bryanrasmussen 1y ago
  that's really not what it means, it means that if you owe the bank enough money (which is probably more than 100 million nowadays for any significant bank) then it is you in the position of power in relation to the bank, when the bank comes and says hey we need the money sure you have the "problem" that you need to pay it, but let's say you can pay it no sweat, but you'd rather not because reasons so you say hmm, I think I would like to renegotiate the interest and wait a year before paying, and unless things are very extreme the bank will probably have to acquiesce, if they don't they are basically letting the world know hey, we have a 100 million dollar problem, but until they make that announcement that 100 million is just another asset the bank has. If you owe the bank enough money, you have the power in the relationship in most cases.

achierius 1y ago

"He who steals from one citizen,” said Cato, “ends his days in fetters and chains; but he who steals from all ends them in purple and gold.”

mananaysiempre 1y ago
> “Fures,” inquit [Cato], “privatorum furtorum in nervo atque in compedibus aetatem agunt, fures publici in auro atque in purpura.” A. Gellius, Noctes Atticae, XI, 18, 18. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Gellius/11*.html#18.18 https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Gellius/1...