A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

thick see YORKSHIRE born and Yorkshire bred, strong in the arm and weak in the head.
thicker see BLOOD is thicker than water.
Set a THIEF to catch a thief
Cf. CALLIMACHUS Epigram xliii. u ■ being a thief myself I
rcoizdt track ofa thief.

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  1654 E. GAYTON Pleasant Notes upon Don Quixote IV. ii. As they say, set a fool to catch a fool; a Proverb not of that gravity (as the Spaniards are), but very usefull and proper. 1665 R. HOWARD Four New Plays 74 According to the old saying, Set a Thief to catch a Thief. 1812 M. EDGEWORTH Tales of Fashionable Life VI. 446 ‘You have all your life been evading the laws. .. Do you think this has qualified you peculiarly for being a guardian of the laws?’ Sir Terence replied, ‘Yes, sure, set a thief to catch a thief is no bad maxim.’ 2002 Washington Times 13 Jan. A9 A pickpocket specialist with the Washington Metro Transit Police Department says it may take a thief to catch a thief, but cops who are trained to think like crooks can do just as well. ■guile; wrong-doers
  

thief see also HANG a thief when he’s young, and he’ll no’ steal when he’s old; there is HONOUR among thieves; the more LAWS, the more thieves and bandits; LITTLE thieves are hanged, but great ones escape; OPPORTUNITY makes a thief; a POSTERN door makes a thief; PROCRASTINATION is the thief of time; if there were no RECEIVERS, there would be no thieves.
When THIEVES fall out, honest men come by their own

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  1546 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue of Proverbs II. ix. L1 And olde folke vnderstood, Whan theues fall out, true men come to their good, Which is not alwaie true. a 1640 DAY & CHETTLE Blind Beggar (1659) IV. G2^V Here’s the old Proverb right, When false Theeves fall out, true men come to their own. 1681 S. COLVIL Whigs’ Supplication II. 53 When thieves reckon, it’s oft-times known That honest people get their own. 1838 A. JACKSON Letter 26 Mar. in Correspondence (1931) V. 545 You must recollect the old adage, ‘When rogues fall out, truth is revealed, and honest men get justice.’ 1866 C. KINGSLEY Hereward the Wake xv. The rogues have fallen out, and honest men may come by their own. 1980 M. BABSON Queue here for Murder xiii. ‘She’s pretty tied up with that Arab fellow, isn’t she? They seem thick as thieves.’ ‘But thieves fall out.’.. ‘You’re a disgraceful old matchmaker!’ "honesty and dishonesty; wrong-doers