I use this statement in supermarket checkout lines when the citizenry 
begins to whine about some minor infraction by another citizen ignoring 
the appalling treatment they are receiving from their betters--- Iraq, 
helath care, Jack Buyemoff e.g. Or miners dying from pols prostituting 
themselves to big business, oddly not a victimless crime in metaphorical 
usage.

I preface the statement with "as the poet says". If that poet turns out 
to be me out of Pound, well, damn, I can certainly live with that. It 
might be a jumble of Lenny Bruce and Pound, Lenny being another of my 
heroes and an astonishing poet in his own right. CP

Carrol Cox wrote:

>Alphaville wrote:
>  
>
>><"In a regime of grand larceny, petty
>>larceny ranks as conformity.">?
>>
>>Given its from memory, more likely a paraphrase. Or Pound citing some
>>cheeky Han Dynasty PD. CP
>>
>>    
>>
>
>There are some lines that express the same sentiment in one of the Pisan
>Cantos. I think they contain the phrase, "of grand larceny." I can't
>locate them quickly, however.
>
>Carrol
>
>  
>