To set a thief to catch a thief, that is what we call “to counteract one toxin with another”.

叫小偷去抓小偷， 这就叫 “以毒攻毒”。

《新英汉大辞典》

In our daily life, if someone steals something, we will consider him as a thief, no matter what kind of reason it is.

在我们的日常生活中，如果有人偷窃，我们会认为她是个贼，不管是什么理由。

youdao

For Man is a thief who comes in the night and takes what he wants from the land.

人类只不过是深夜潜入的窃贼，在土地上予取予求。

youdao

With rare exceptions, these white-collar criminals should be accorded the same deference as a thief or worse, because that is what they are.

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"He's an elected public servant who is just a flat-out thief and burglar and needs to be removed from office and convicted of being a thief and a burglar, (because) that's exactly what he is, with quality evidence of him doing it on video, " Hasse said.

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