窃钩者诛，窃国者侯
qiè​gōu​zhě​zhū​qiè​guó​zhě​hóu

steal a hook and you're executed, steal a country and you're a lord

窃钩者诛，窃国者侯 竊鉤者誅，竊國者侯 qiè​gōu​zhě​zhū​qiè​guó​zhě​hóu
steal a hook and you're executed, steal a country and you're a lord
A person who steals a small item is punished, while one who steals a whole nation is rewarded with power; an idiom from the Daoist classic 庄子 zhuāng​zǐ.

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