cheats never prosper

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cheats never prosper dishonest efforts will not bring real success. The saying is recorded from the early 19th century, but a related idea with an ironic twist is found in John Harington's Epigrams of the early 17th century, ‘Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.’ (In the US, the form is often cheaters never prosper.)