Meaning & Analysis
Committing one crime often necessitates a subsequent, more serious crime in order to conceal the original transgression, eliminate witnesses, or secure the benefits of the first illicit act.
Insights
The Cycle of Wrongdoing
The proverb illustrates a cycle of escalating wrongdoing, where one immoral act creates a situation that seems to require another, worse act to manage the consequences. This applies not just to legal crimes but to lies, betrayals, and ethical compromises that compound over time.
The Point of No Return
It describes the 'point of no return' in moral corruption. Once a person has committed a significant transgression, they may feel so invested in that path that turning back seems impossible, making further, greater evils appear to be the only logical way forward.
The Illusion of Security
The 'security' gained through greater crimes is a dangerous illusion. Each subsequent act increases the perpetrator's risk, guilt, and isolation, creating a fragile stability that is bound to collapse under the weight of its own corruption.
Literary and Dramatic Resonance
This proverb is a foundational theme in Renaissance and Jacobean revenge tragedies, as evidenced by citations from Kyd, Marston, and Shakespeare. Macbeth's descent, famously articulated in 'I am in blood / Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er', perfectly embodies this principle of escalating violence to maintain power.
Psychological Entrapment
The proverb reflects the psychological principle of cognitive dissonance. To resolve the internal conflict of having committed a wrongful act, an individual may commit worse deeds to justify the initial transgression, thereby normalizing their immoral behavior and solidifying a new, corrupt identity.
Political and Historical Roots
The Latin phrase 'Per scelus semper tutum est sceleribus iter' (The path for crime is always made safe by crime), quoted in the historical sources, reveals the proverb's classical origins, likely from Seneca. It speaks to a timeless observation about the nature of tyranny and moral decay, often applied to rulers who use escalating cruelty to secure their illegitimate power.
Rhetorical Devices
Paradox
The proverb is built on a paradox: the concept of achieving security, a state of safety, through the inherently dangerous and unstable act of committing more crimes. This contradiction creates a powerful and unsettling meaning.
Parallelism and Repetition
The repetition of 'crimes' (or 'mischiefs') in a parallel structure ('Crimes are made secure by greater crimes') emphasizes the cyclical, self-perpetuating nature of evil.
Foreshadowing
The proverb functions as a grim foreshadowing, implying an inevitable and tragic trajectory for anyone who embarks on a path of wrongdoing.
Transcription
Quotations
Per scelus semper tutum est sceleribus iter. For euils unto ils conductors be.
Of ane ill coms many.
Black deed only through black deed safely flies.
I'le make her sure.
-Small mischiefes are by greater made secure.
Per scelus semper tutum sceleribus iter. Boldly you haue begun, and being once in, Blood will cure lust, and mischiefe phisicke sinne.
I know the tricks of Majesty. They think they cannot be secure after Doing ill, but by doing worse.
Mischiefe by mischiefe findes the safest way.
Shakespeare Citations
But I am in So far in blood that sin will pluck on sin.
Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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