Note 9 — II. OUR DUTIES. (continued 2)
Reading edition
It is not only direct illegal appropriation of our neighbour’s goods that is condemned as theft or robbery; it is equally wicked to buy things which one knows to have been stolen by others.9 He who does it is worse than the thief; for, whilst the latter injures only the person whom he robs, the former encourages and corrupts the thief, hardens his heart, helps to silence the voice of his conscience, and thus obstructs the way to repentance and improvement.