Give a thief rope enough and he'll hang himself.

Proverbs of All Nations · Walter K. Kelly · 1859

A main proverb preserved in Walter K. Kelly's British-centered 1859 comparative collection. The exact oral origin is not asserted, and the historical saying is not presented as present-day fact or advice.

Only the main proverb span from the fixed English source is published. Higher-risk thematic sections and residual stereotype-bearing entries are excluded; explanations, variants and modern rewrites are not included.