Quotes / Stealing from Thieves

Sokka: No wonder [the pirates] were trying to hack us up. You stole their Waterbending scroll!
Katara: I prefer to think of it as "high-risk trading".
Aang: [laughs] Good one Katara!
Katara: Sokka, where you think they got it? They stole it from a Waterbender.

— Avatar: The Last Airbender, "The Waterbending Scroll"

Vi: Look at all that food!
Leif: We can only wonder how much of it is stolen.
Vi: If it's robbed, there's no problem if we grab it, right?
Kabbu: There is! A thief stealing from thieves is still a thief!
Vi: Ugh. Next time we crash a bandit hideout, let's leave Kabbu at an inn.
Leif: (Agreed.)

— Bug Fables

"So they pirated a pirate ship—very apropos."

— Captain Janeway, Rocketship Voyager

"Everyone knows that stealing from thieves cancels out."

— Flint, Snarlbear

Raphtalia: Are we actually looting these Bandits? But doesn't this make us just as evil as they are?
Hickwaal: I'm afraid I don't agree. They're offering up everything they have to purchase safe-passage from our Savior: he's simply treating their lives as merchandise.

— The Rising of the Shield Hero

Leon: It's not technically a crime to scam a scammer!
Nigerian gangster: But it is a crime to cut out a man's intestines, and make him wear them as a hat.

— Person of Interest, "All In"

Qui-Gon: What's my character's alignment again?
Game Master: You're a Jedi knight. Upholder of Justice throughout the Galaxy.
Qui-Gon: So...?
Game Master: Lawful Goodinvoked. In theory.
Qui-Gon: Right. So if we rob people, we should make sure they're gangsters first.

— Darths & Droids, "A Calculated Withdrawal"

---