Quotation from: The Secret Agent

Written by: Joseph Conrad

Catching thieves was another matter altogether. It had that quality of
seriousness belonging to every form of open sport where the best man wins
under perfectly comprehensible rules. There were no rules for dealing
with anarchists. And that was distasteful to the Chief Inspector. It
was all foolishness, but that foolishness excited the public mind,
affected persons in high places, and touched upon international
relations. A hard, merciless contempt settled rigidly on the Chief
Inspector's face as he walked on. His mind ran over all the anarchists
of his flock. Not one of them had half the spunk of this or that burglar
he had known. Not half--not one-tenth.