two wrongs do not make a right

Idioms  

1. A second misdeed or mistake does not cancel the first, as in Don't take his ball just because he took yours—two wrongs do not make a right. This proverbial adage sounds ancient but was first recorded in 1783, as Three wrongs will not make one right.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

two wrongs do not make a right

But, as the old saying goes, two wrongs do not make a right.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 22, 2022

But reasoning that two wrongs do not make a right, Circuit Judge Bruce Beilfuss slapped a $4,200 fine on the club.

From Time Magazine Archive

That would have been better also, but two wrongs do not make a right.

From Wulf the Saxon A Story of the Norman Conquest by Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)

"If two wrongs do not make a right," he answered tartly, "even less will an assembly of deadly dry persons make something to drink."

From From a Cornish Window A New Edition by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir

And yet," continued Robert, "two wrongs do not make a right.

From What Necessity Knows by Dougall, Lily