Little did they know that the place they were about to…
““Little did they know that the place they were about to burgle -- the shop, and the flat above it -- had already been burgled the week before: yes, and the week before that. And the week before that. It was all burgled out. Indeed, burgling, when viewed in Darwinian terms, was clearly approaching a crisis. Burglars were finding that almost everywhere had been burgled. Burglars were forever bumping into one another, stepping on the toes of other burglars. There were burglar jams on rooftops and stairways, on groaning fire-escapes. Burglars were being burgled by fellow burglars, and were doing the same thing back. Burgled goods jigged from flat to flat. Returning from burgling, burglars would discover that they themselves had just been burgled, sometimes by the very burglar that they themselves had just burgled! How would this crisis in burgling be resolved? It would be resolved when enough burglars found burgling a waste of time, and stopped doing it. Then, for a while, burgling would become worth doing again. But burglars had plenty of time to waste -- it was all they had plenty of, and there was nothing else to do with it -- so they just went on burgling.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
When many people compete for the same limited resource, competition becomes self‑defeating and leads to a stalemate.
In simple terms: Too many thieves ruin the theft itself.
Key Takeaway
Recognize when competition erodes value and seek alternatives.
Themes
competition
scarcity
overexploitation
inefficiency
Mood
cynical
ironic
reflective
Type
literary
satirical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- crime markets
- resource allocation
- business strategy
- environmental policy
- traffic congestion
Key Concepts
Game theory
tragedy of the commons
Darwinian competition
Questions to Reflect On
- How can cooperation replace destructive competition?
- What incentives could reduce over‑exploitation?
A Different Perspective
If participants cannot coordinate, the crisis may persist indefinitely.