Every man ought to be supposed a knave, and to have no other end, in all his actions, but private interest. By this interest we must govern him, and by means of it, make him cooperate to public good, notwithstanding his unsatiable avarice and ambition. - Alexander Hamilton
There is some magic in wealth, which can thus make persons pay their court to it, when it does not even benefit themselves. How strange it is, that a fool or knave, with riches, should be treated with more respect by the world, than a good man, or a wise man in poverty! - Ann Radcliffe
How absolute the knave is! we must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us. - William Shakespeare
None are so busy as the fool and knave. - John Dryden
HE who says there is no such thing as an honest man, you may be sure is himself a knave. - George Bishop Berkeley