--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For property is robbery, but then, we are…" description: "\"“For property is robbery, but then, we are all robbers or would-be robbers together, and have found it essential to organise our thieving, as we have f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/samuel-butler-823_convention_for-property-is-robbery-but-then-we-are_977250.jpg" --- # For property is robbery, but then, we are all robbers or… ![“For property is robbery, but then, we are all robbers or would-be robbers together, and have found it essential to organise our thieving, as we have found it necessary to organise our lust and revenge. Property, marriage, the law; as the bed to the river, so rule and convention to the instinct…” quote by Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/samuel-butler-823_convention_for-property-is-robbery-but-then-we-are_977250.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/samuel-butler-823_convention_for-property-is-robbery-but-then-we-are_977250.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/samuel-butler-823_convention_for-property-is-robbery-but-then-we-are_977250.jpg) > ““For property is robbery, but then, we are all robbers or would-be robbers together, and have found it essential to organise our thieving, as we have found it necessary to organise our lust and revenge. Property, marriage, the law; as the bed to the river, so rule and convention to the instinct; and woe to him who tampers with the banks while the flood is flowing.”” [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Property and social rules are human constructs that mask our innate desires for possession and control. **In simple terms:** Rules hide our greed. Key Takeaway Question societal norms. Themes property morality human nature Mood critical thought‑provoking Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - legal systems - relationships - wealth - conflict Key Concepts philosophy social critique Questions to Reflect On - Are rules always harmful? - What would a world without property look like? A Different Perspective Overlooks benefits of organized property. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Convention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convention/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property/) [Robbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/robbery/) ## Related quotes > [It will probably surprise many who know nothing of Proudhon save his declaration that 'property is robbery' to learn that he was perhaps the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/it-will-probably-surprise-many-who-know-nothing-of-proudhon-save-his/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [“Property, marriage, the law; as the bed to the river, so rule and convention to the instinct; and woe to him who tampers with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/property-marriage-the-law-as-the-bed-to-the-river-so-rule-and/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [The difference between a GOP convention and Comic-Con is that the people at Comic-Con have a much firmer grasp of reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/the-difference-between-a-gop-convention-and-comic-con-is-that-the/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [A political convention is just not a place where you come away with any trace of faith in human nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-political-convention-is-just-not-a-place-where-you-come-away-with/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [There's a War Crimes Act in the United States passed by a Republican Congress in 1996, which says that grave breaches of the Geneva…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-a-war-crimes-act-in-the-united-states-passed-by-a-republican/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Society's the mother of convention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-wells/society-s-the-mother-of-convention/) [Carolyn Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-wells/) > [“Yielding to convention yields nothing new.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-disilvio/yielding-to-convention-yields-nothing-new/) [Rich DiSilvio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-disilvio/) > [A convention is a social pattern we have chosen to prefer over whatever the raw world simply proffers. It is a sign of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-bartlett-giamatti/a-convention-is-a-social-pattern-we-have-chosen-to-prefer-over/) [A. Bartlett Giamatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-bartlett-giamatti/) > [The United States, a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, destroyed the last of its stocks of VX and other chemical agents on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/the-united-states-a-signatory-to-the-chemical-weapons-convention/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [The calendar? A mere convention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irina-ratushinskaya/the-calendar-a-mere-convention/) Irina Ratushinskaya > [Convention was our safeguard: could one have stronger?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/convention-was-our-safeguard-could-one-have-stronger/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [“We'd been trying so hard to look like our heroes, we'd kinda forgotten what a hero really is. Capes, masks, powers — sure, that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikko/we-d-been-trying-so-hard-to-look-like-our-heroes-we-d-kinda-forgotten/) Mikko > [Only in Washington would the Republican operatives get the entire press corps ginned up over the notion that I'm going to be home campaigning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-mccaskill/only-in-washington-would-the-republican-operatives-get-the-entire/) [Claire McCaskill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-mccaskill/) > [“He needed the people and the clamour around him. There was no questions and no doubts when he stood on a platform over a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/he-needed-the-people-and-the-clamour-around-him-there-was-no/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [No one familiar with the common law of England can read the Constitution of the United States without observing the great desire of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-freeman-miller/no-one-familiar-with-the-common-law-of-england-can-read-the/) [Samuel Freeman Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-freeman-miller/) ## More by Samuel Butler > [Is life worth living? This is a question for an embryo not for a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/is-life-worth-living-this-is-a-question-for-an-embryo-not-for-a-man/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [I am the enfant terrible of literature and science. If I cannot, and I know I cannot, get the literary and scientific bigwigs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/i-am-the-enfant-terrible-of-literature-and-science-if-i-cannot-and-i/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [If you follow reason far enough it always leads to conclusions that are contrary to reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-you-follow-reason-far-enough-it-always-leads-to-conclusions-that/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/all-animals-except-man-know-that-the-principal-business-of-life-is-to/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [The advantage of doing one's praising for oneself is that one can lay it on so thick and exactly in the right places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-advantage-of-doing-one-s-praising-for-oneself-is-that-one-can-lay/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Spare the rod and spoil the child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/spare-the-rod-and-spoil-the-child/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Opinions have vested interests just as men have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/opinions-have-vested-interests-just-as-men-have/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“we must judge men not so much by what they, as by what they make us feel that they have it in them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/we-must-judge-men-not-so-much-by-what-they-as-by-what-they-make-us/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [If I die prematurely I shall be saved from being bored to death at my own success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-i-die-prematurely-i-shall-be-saved-from-being-bored-to-death-at-my/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Vaccination is the medical sacrament corresponding to baptism. Whether it is or is not more efficacious I do not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/vaccination-is-the-medical-sacrament-corresponding-to-baptism-whether/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“Having, then, once introduced an element of inconsistency into his system, he was far too consistent not to be inconsistent consistently, and he lapsed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/having-then-once-introduced-an-element-of-inconsistency-into-his/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Brigands demand your money or your life; women require both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/brigands-demand-your-money-or-your-life-women-require-both/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [A man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/a-man-who-lets-himself-be-bored-is-even-more-contemptible-than-the/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [It is not sufficiently considered in the hour of exultation, that all human excellence is comparative; that no man performs much but in proportion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/it-is-not-sufficiently-considered-in-the-hour-of-exultation-that-all/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-oldest-books-are-still-only-just-out-to-those-who-have-not-read/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) [Explore all 355 Samuel Butler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) ## More Convention quotes > [No one familiar with the common law of England can read the Constitution of the United States without observing the great desire of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-freeman-miller/no-one-familiar-with-the-common-law-of-england-can-read-the/) [Samuel Freeman Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-freeman-miller/) > [“He needed the people and the clamour around him. 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It is a sign of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-bartlett-giamatti/a-convention-is-a-social-pattern-we-have-chosen-to-prefer-over/) [A. Bartlett Giamatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-bartlett-giamatti/) > [“Yielding to convention yields nothing new.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-disilvio/yielding-to-convention-yields-nothing-new/) [Rich DiSilvio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-disilvio/) > [Society's the mother of convention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-wells/society-s-the-mother-of-convention/) [Carolyn Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-wells/) > [There's a War Crimes Act in the United States passed by a Republican Congress in 1996, which says that grave breaches of the Geneva…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-a-war-crimes-act-in-the-united-states-passed-by-a-republican/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [A political convention is just not a place where you come away with any trace of faith in human nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-political-convention-is-just-not-a-place-where-you-come-away-with/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [The difference between a GOP convention and Comic-Con is that the people at Comic-Con have a much firmer grasp of reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/the-difference-between-a-gop-convention-and-comic-con-is-that-the/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [I am exceedingly distressed at the proceedings of the Convention-being ... almost sure, they will ... lay the foundation of a Civil War.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbridge-gerry/i-am-exceedingly-distressed-at-the-proceedings-of-the-convention/) [Elbridge Gerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbridge-gerry/) > [Convention, so often a mask for injustice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-hamilton/convention-so-often-a-mask-for-injustice/) [Edith Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-hamilton/) [Browse all 182 Convention quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convention/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For property is robbery, but then, we are all robbers or would-be robbers together, and have found it essential to organise our thieving, as we have found it necessary to organise our lust and revenge. 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