168 ShowMetheMoney
been far safer to steal large sums with a pen than small sums with
a gun.”^6 Steering clear of such robbery requires attention to man-
agers, who shape corporate culture. Some corporate cultures en-
courage laudable accounting practices, while others—as these chi-
caneries illustrate—encourage what Ben Graham called
“prestidigitation” or magical numbers.^7 From National Student Mar-
keting to Cendant, the question is the tone of trust at the top, which
raises the subject of the next part of this book.