Pirates and Princes

Somali pirates being in the news, this great passage from Noam Chomsky comes to mind:

In the"City of God," St. Augustine tells the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great. The Emperor angrily demanded of him,"How dare you molest the seas?" To which the pirate replied,"How dare you molest the whole world? Because I do it with a small boat, I am called a pirate and a thief. You, with a great navy, molest the world and are called an emperor." St. Augustine thought the pirate's answer was"elegant and excellent."