Italian saying, quoted by Bonaparte during the first Italian campaign to highlight the financial dependence of the Directoire on the plunder from the Army of Italy, according to Lucian S. Regenbogen, Napoléon a dit: aphorismes, citations et opinions, p. 82.
The hand that gives is above the hand that takes. (La main qui donne est au-dessus de celle qui reçoit.)
Original text (English)