Ilene Nathan: And what is your occupation?
Omar: Occupation?
Ilene Nathan: What exactly do you do for a living, Mr. Little?
Omar: I rip and run.
Ilene Nathan: You...?
Omar: I robs drug dealers.
Ilene Nathan: And how long has this been your occupation, Mr. Little?
Omar: Oh, I venture to say... about 8 or 9 years now.
Ilene Nathan: Mr. Little, how does a man rob drug dealers for 8 or 9 years and live to tell about it?
Omar: (Pauses, then shrugs slightly) Day at a time, I suppose!
Omar: Occupation?
Ilene Nathan: What exactly do you do for a living, Mr. Little?
Omar: I rip and run.
Ilene Nathan: You...?
Omar: I robs drug dealers.
Ilene Nathan: And how long has this been your occupation, Mr. Little?
Omar: Oh, I venture to say... about 8 or 9 years now.
Ilene Nathan: Mr. Little, how does a man rob drug dealers for 8 or 9 years and live to tell about it?
Omar: (Pauses, then shrugs slightly) Day at a time, I suppose!
"It ain't what you takin', it's who you takin' from, ya feel me?"
—Omar, The Wire
"I'm no martyr. I did it for the money. But it's not worth much if you can't face yourself in the mirror. Respect is the ultimate currency. I was stealing from a man who traded his soul away for a few dollars. And then he tried to wash away his guilt, drown it in a lifetime of good deeds and a sea of respectability. It almost worked, too. But inevitably, the further you run from your sins, the more exhausted you are when they catch up to you. And they do."
—Dalton Russell, Inside Man
"You see, I come from a long line of master thieves who kept all their secrets of sneaking and stealing in an ancient book: the Thievius Raccoonus. Anyone who read it learned to be especially sneaky, which is why we specialize in stealing from criminals. After all, there's no honor, no challenge, no fun stealing from ordinary people. You rip off a master criminal, and you know you're a master thief."
Autolycus: Can't risk damaging these magic hands, you know?
Hercules: Right. Think of all the innocent people that would keep you from robbing.
Autolycus: Now, if I had my druthers, which I admit isn't always the case, I would focus on the corrupt and decadent. That's how I got into this business, as a matter of fact. A bloated merchant from Cyros tricked my brother, Malagus, out of his land. And when Malagus protested, the merchant had him killed. And the powers that be did nothing about it. So, I delivered my own justice. I robbed that merchant, and I gave every dinar he had to the sick, the hungry, the poor. The merchant became a pauper. And, well, I became an outlaw. But not just any outlaw, either.
Hercules: Right. Think of all the innocent people that would keep you from robbing.
Autolycus: Now, if I had my druthers, which I admit isn't always the case, I would focus on the corrupt and decadent. That's how I got into this business, as a matter of fact. A bloated merchant from Cyros tricked my brother, Malagus, out of his land. And when Malagus protested, the merchant had him killed. And the powers that be did nothing about it. So, I delivered my own justice. I robbed that merchant, and I gave every dinar he had to the sick, the hungry, the poor. The merchant became a pauper. And, well, I became an outlaw. But not just any outlaw, either.
—Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, "The King of Thieves"
"Regardless of this one's past — or his future — he has not stolen from the merchant. He does not steal from hard-working business owners. He steals from the pampered, the opulent and the unjust."
— Dar'taqto, Beyond Skyrim: Bruma
"There is no honor in stealing from the poor. Accounting trails can lead us to who are behind those scams. Those are the individuals who deserve our personal attention."
—Sam Starfall, Freefall
"We had a conversation last night when we were up for watch, and [Molly] asked me what my greatest lie was and we pulled fucking cards for it. Loser would go first. He told me this story about tricking a town into thinking he was royalty, being a king, to pull off a scam. I was almost going to tell him about my childhood, and I didn’t. Because he told that fucking story and I realized: even in his scams, when he was doing something shitty, he was still making people feel good or feel special. The town was being visited by– graced by his presence, by his royal highness. And I told him this story of ruining a couple’s lives by extorting them because I fucking could. Because I fucking felt like it. I realized if I can deliberately leave a town shittier than what I found it, of course he could fucking leave a town better than what he found it."
— Beauregard, Critical Role
