opportunity makes a thief
opportunity makes a thief
proverb Even those who are morally upright would steal if they were able to do it without getting caught. A: "I figured out a way to collect social welfare while still working." B: "I never thought someone like you would try to rip off the system like that. Opportunity makes a thief, I guess."
See also: make, opportunity, thief
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
Opportunity makes a thief.
Prov. Anyone would steal, given a chance to do so without being punished. Mr. Cooper thought of himself as a moral man. But opportunity makes a thief, and with the safe unguarded he had the opportunity to steal thousands of dollars undetected.
See also: make, opportunity, thief
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
- teach a man to fish
- it takes a village
- village
- best-laid plans go astray, the
- the best-laid plans
- the best-laid plans go astray
- the best-laid plans of mice and men
- for want of a nail
- For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse ...
- tomorrow never comes