What is crime amongst the multitude, is only vice among the few.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Acts seen as crimes when widespread by many are treated as mere vices when done by a few elites.
- In plain terms
- The law judges actions differently depending on how many people do them.
- What can you take from it?
- Scale and power affect moral judgment.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Where do you see double standards in law?
- Should scale change how we judge acts?
Another view
Some acts are harmful regardless of scale.
More from Benjamin Disraeli
We should never lose an occasion. Opportunity is more powerful even than conquerors and prophets.
Permalink to quote #234 What usually comes first is the contract.
Permalink to quote #236 To tax the community for the advantage of a class is not protection: it is plunder.
Permalink to quote #233
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